Home Run Sonic
by Falconess
Summary: An AoSth story! Sonic and his friends are at the Mobian World Series when Robotnik challenges them to the hardest baseball game of their lives!
1. This's way cooler than watching it on TV

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A/N: Hey guys! I'm baaaaack! ^_^ And this is the story everyone asked for... and unlike most baseball episodes... I'm writing out all the innings... Frankly it was a _big_ challenge for me... but here it is... Please let me know what you think (good or bad, but please try to be constructive with your comments and be specific XD So I can improve) ... anyways, this is for you guys, so enjoy. :)  
  
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Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog  
  
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-----------SEASON 2-------------  
  
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--------"Home Run Sonic"--------   
  
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written by: Joanie Michelle Rich  
  
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Chapter 1: "This is way cooler than watching it on TV!"  
  
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"Here it comes!" Tails shouted, pointing across the baseball stands to the groups of fans rising and sitting in their seats.   
  
On his head sat a green baseball cap with the a yellow, cursive "G" stitched into it. He waved around a matching "Green Hill Ghunderthorks" pennant.  
  
"I'm ready bro!" Sonic winked and gave him a thumbs-up as all the fans near them began doing the "wave."  
  
"YEAH!" Tails leapt up and threw up his arms into the air. Sonic did the same. They quickly sat back down.  
  
"Oh, wow! Another one!" Tails exclaimed. They rose up and sat back down again, shouting and throwing their arms up in the air, "This is so awesome, Sonic! I can't believe we're actually at the Mobian World Series! This is way cooler than watching it on TV."  
  
"Yep, this is way past cool alright," Sonic agreed. His sharp eyesight suddenly spotted a tall food vender a few rows below them selling his ultimate favorite food, "And it just got even better!" he smiled, "YO! Two Chilidogs over here, pal!" Sonic leaped on his seat and waved his arm.  
  
The vendor quickly headed up the stairs and pitched two straight at Sonic, who caught them and sent back some Mobiums, "And you can keep the change!"   
  
The man snatched the money out of the air, yelling back, "Thanks a lot, Palsy!"  
  
Sonic instantly recognized his voice, "Wes Weasley? What're you doin' here?"  
  
"What does it look like? This is only a temp job until I can find a real selling gig," he replied, and then he continued back down the stairs.  
  
Sonic shrugged and sat down again. He handed a chilidog to Tails.  
  
"Mmmmm! I wish we could do this more often!" Tails commented as he ripped open the foil package and took a bite of his steaming hot chilidog.   
  
"Yeah, maybe if Robotnik would take a break every now and then, we could too," Sonic agreed as he munched on his chilidog.  
  
"Oh Sonic!" a familiar female voice called out.   
  
Sonic gulped down the rest of his chilidog and glanced toward the stairs, "Hi, Miss Possum!" he waved.  
  
As she headed towards him, he saw more of his friends following right behind her, a wide grin spread across his face, "Hey guys!"   
  
Big Griz and Mad Mike - better known as "Da Bears", MacHopper the Kangaroo, Junior & Breezy Robotnik, and Hodgepodge the Hare all greeted Sonic and Tails as they took a seat in the row right up above them.   
  
  
  
"Wow!" Sonic said, "This must be my lucky day!"  
  
"You can thank Tails," Junior said, "He invited us to come."  
  
"Well, you hadn't seen everybody since your Hero of the Year party - so I figured this would be a great time for all of us to get together."  
  
"Thanks, Bro!" Sonic smiled, "You guys are just in time too. The game's about to start!"  
  
The loudspeaker for the park suddenly roared to life, "WELCOME BASEBALL FANS!" The crowd began to cheer wildly, "To the concluding game of the 25th Annual Mobian World Series! The winner of this game will take home the coveted Emerald Trophy! Now, please rise for the world anthem."  
  
Everybody leaped up to their feet and in the far corner of the stadium, near the large lighted scoreboard, the Mobius flag was raised as the crowd began to sing to some accompanying music.  
  
"Oh Mobius, dear Mobius,  
  
Land of Freedom, Land of Dreams.  
  
May the sun continually rise for you  
  
And the twin moons share their light.  
  
Stay in our hearts, and never part,  
  
Lovely Mobius - star planet of the night!"  
  
The crowd roared to life with whooping and applause. The loudspeaker came on again, "Now, please welcome to the field, your 3-year reigning champions, The Green Hill Ghunderthorks!"  
  
Tails stood on top of his chair and cheered loudly, waving his pennant wildly. Other fans screamed out for their team. Sonic whistled loudly for the team as they came running out onto the field and took their positions.  
  
The speaker continued, "And this year's challengers, the East Mobius Striped Sox!"  
  
A dark shadow slowly began to creep over the stadium. Big Griz noticed this, "Gee, uh, dah sun sure is settin' fast tonight, huh Mike?"  
  
"It can't be gettin' dark that quick," Hodge Podge commented, staring up at the darkness.  
  
Sonic also noticed the approaching darkness and turned around, cranning his neck into the sky. As the shadow engulfed them, Sonic could make out a huge oval shape, "What is that thing?" he wondered aloud.  
  
More fans began to stare and gawk at the object floating over them. It tipped forward and descended towards the infield. As the object's shadow moved off of them down towards the baseball diamond, Sonic's eyes widened, "I don't believe it! It's Dr. Robotnik's Robo-Blimp!"  
  
Fans ducked under their seats as the giant egg-like blimp, decorated to look like Robotnik himself - complete with glaring red eyes and orange mustaches - dipped down towards the seats until it was about 20 feet above their heads.   
  
"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed, "It's gonna land right on the field! But what's it doing here?"  
  
"I don't know, but this can't be good..." Sonic frowned, "I'm gonna get a closer look!"   
  
"Sonic, wait!" Miss Possum leaned down and grabbed his arm, "We're comin' with you!" The others stood and voiced a similar reply.  
  
"No, this is way too dangerous. You guys need to stay up here where it's safe," Tails started to say something, but Sonic cut him off, "You too, Keed."  
  
"Awww..." Tails sighed as Sonic zoomed down the stairs and out one of the exits. Tails turned around to face his friends, "C'mon guys! I don't care what Sonic says, if he's goin' against Robotnik, he's gonna need some help!" Tails took to the sky and flew down towards the field.   
  
"Tails is right," MacHopper bounded down the stairs, "C'mon you blokes, let's help um!" The rest of Sonic's friends followed quickly after him.  
  
END OF CHAPTER ONE 


	2. All is working according to plan

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A/N: To Martial Arts Master... I wasn't trying to be original with my baseball team names. I was doing a parody of American names... as the AoStH writers do stuff like that all the time xD (you want a good example watch "Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted") Sorry for the confusion... it was supposed to be a funny joke to the baseball fans reading. Anyways, on with Chapter two! (And watch for another joke in Chapter 3...)   
  
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Chapter 2: "All is working according to plan."  
  
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Sonic zoomed around and down through the stadium, blowing napkins, straws, and condiment packets off food stands as he rushed by, until he reached the ground level. All the fans and employees that had been walking around the stadium, were now standing in the entranceway, chattering noisily, trying to figure out what the low-flying blimp was doing there. All the security guards were spread out too thin, trying to calm the crowd.  
  
He squeezed his way through the frantic crowd into the seating area. He zoomed down to the row just behind home plate and leaped on top of the Home Team's Dugout - just as the blimp came to a stop, hovering directly over the pitcher's mound.   
  
The Ghunderthorks's pitcher stared up at the blimp. He removed his sweaty baseball cap and scratched his flaming red hair. No one had informed him about a pre-game show, and that blimp was flying too low to be an advertising stunt. He glanced around to his teammates and saw a similiar look of confusion on their faces. The outfielders gathered in the infield and the batters for the Striped Sox came out onto the field to see what the commotion about. Soon the whole diamond was a frenzy of dialogues.   
  
The pitcher waved his arm, trying to get his coach's attention from the dugout. But his coach was on the dugout phone, probably calling the stadium manager, he guessed. That blimp was giving him the willies though, so he headed back into the dugout and took a seat beside his equipment bag. His coach got off the phone and stomped off into the field followed by the other coaches and the umpires.   
  
***  
  
Tails flew over the edge of the balcony and headed straight for the blimp. Down below he could barely make out Sonic standing like a blue smear of paint on top of the Ghunderthorks's dugout roof. After reaching the blimp, he landed on top of the gas bag, waiting to see what would happen next.   
  
***  
  
"Prepare the Stereotypical Stadium Sucker," Dr. Robotnik commanded to his Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad from the helm of his dastardly dirigible, glancing down at the players. He straightened his black baseball cap that had a scarlet R stitched on the front. He was decked out in a matching black with red stripes uniform that fitted tightly to his egg-like body.   
  
Grounder, who was wearing a similar hat and jersey, responded quickly, pulling a large blue lever, "Sucker prepared, sir!" he saluted, turning his drill into a robotic hand.  
  
Robotnik's eyes narrowed, "Engage the infield on my mark..."  
  
***  
  
The players immediately ceased their conversations as a hole opened up in the bottom of the blimp. Had the players known better they would have started running right then. Instead, they gazed in silence as an accordion-like yellow tube stretched out of the hole and down towards them. Before they could react, the sucker started up, and pratically inhaled the field, sending the players soaring up into the tube. A few tried to run or hang onto the astro turf, but in vain, as they were also pulled up through the tube.  
  
Sonic was almost sucked up himself, had he not leaped and grabbed onto one of the bars holding up the netting behind homeplate. When the tube retracted, Sonic slid down the pole and leaped onto the field. He watched as the large hole closed up, quickly trying to decide what to do next.  
  
The rumbling of the vacuum force made Tails lose his balance and he had to take to the air again.  
  
The stadium fans screamed and tried to leave the stadium. As they scrambled out of the stadium entrances and towards the exits, they discovered a fleet of giant robots were blocking the way.  
  
  
  
The blimp slowly ascended back into the air. Tails landed back on it as it floated up. The megaphone system on the blimp screeched and then Robotnik's voice blared out of it, "Attention, baseball fans!" Tails covered his ears to block the earsplitting volume. The crowds panicking below them were overwhelmed by a sudden hush.  
  
Sonic frowned, he hated it when he was right.  
  
"The Mobian World Series has been temporarily cancelled due to total domination," Robotnik then laughed, "please return to your seats immediately, or I'll order my robots to," he smiled and spoke slowly, "escort you to them."  
  
The fans erupted into chaos again and many ran back in terror to their seats.   
  
Sonic's friends meanwhile had been fighting to break through the leaving stampede and now found them selves being dragged back into the stadium by the same crowd. They all tried to stay together, but were torn apart by the pushy fans as they filtered back into the stadium.  
  
***  
  
Robotnik turned to his other android assistant, Scratch, who also wore a similar baseball uniform that had a small hole in the back for his tail feathers to stick out, "Scratch, are all the players present and accounted for?"   
  
Scratch cringed, "Well, sir... we're missing one."  
  
Robotnik frowned for a second, "That's not such a big loss," he commented, "Go ahead and commence with the download procedure."  
  
Scratch sighed a relief and pressed a few buttons on his control console, "Download commencing! Estimated loading time, 1 minute, 15 seconds."  
  
"Excellent," Robotnik crooned, "All is working according to plan."  
  
***  
  
Sonic couldn't take anymore waiting and zoomed out onto the pitcher's mound. He put his fingers to his lips and blew a sharp whistle, "HEY! ROBUTTNIK!" he yelled up to the blimp, "DOWN HERE!" He waved his arms around.  
  
***  
  
Tails immediately heard Sonic's voice and peered down. What in the world was he doing? Was he actually trying to get Robotnik to see him? "Robotnik'll never notice him from way up here!" Tails frowned. An idea dawned on him, "But he'll notice me!" He quickly leapt into the air and flew towards the front of the blimp.  
  
He leaned forward into a swan dive towards the metal structure attached to the gas bag, hovering just in front of the main window.  
  
***  
  
Robotnik was humming to himself when he suddenly turned to face the window again and came face to face with Tails, "AHHHH!" he toppled over.   
  
Scratch and Grounder heard this and looked up, "Is that Tails?"  
  
Tails laughed really hard and started making faces at them.  
  
Robotnik quickly leaped back up and growled, "That must mean the hedgehog is here somewhere," he turned back to his SSSSS Squad, "Well! What are you waiting for! Locate Sonic, NOW!"  
  
Scratch and Grounder raced to the windows and opened one up. Grounder transformed his arm into a telescope and spied around.   
  
Tails flew around to their open window, "Hey guys, if you're looking for Sonic, he's right down there," Tails pointed to the pitcher's mound.  
  
"Aw thanks, that's real nice of- HEY!" Grounder frowned, "We don't need your help!" Scratch slapped his forehead and pointed Grounder in the direction Tails indicated, "Oh! I see him! He's standing on the pitcher's mound!"  
  
Scratch ran over and reported this to Dr. Robotnik who growled, "How much longer until the download process is complete."  
  
Scratch glanced towards his console, "About 30 seconds."  
  
Robotnik grinned, "Plenty of time," Robotnik turned back to the main console pushed a button, "Coconuts! Bring us down to the field."  
  
A buzzer sounded and Coconuts voice came over the radio, "What? Why are we landing now?"  
  
Robotnik slammed his fist on the button, "Don't ask stupid questions! Just do it, before I come down below and wring your neck!"  
  
A startled voice replied, "Right away, s-s-sir!"  
  
END OF CHAPTER TWO 


	3. THE Bobby Bambino?

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A/N: To Toni: As always, YES! I love it when you put my stuff up on NAoStH! ^____^ Finally we're getting to the cameo character for this episode XD enjoy! And thanks for the reviews guys.  
  
Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Jeffrey Scott, my favorite cartoon screenwriter. Why? Because I can and he rocks! That's why. ^_^   
  
******  
  
Chapter Three: "THE Bobby Bambino?"  
  
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Sonic freaked out when he spotted his little buddy hovering in front of the blimp. He didn't think Tails would have ever tried to pull a stunt like that. Sonic had tried shouting, but Tails wasn't paying attention. He breathed a little easier though, as he spotted him heading down towards him, seemingly unharmed from his encounter. Thank goodness!  
  
Tails had an ear-to-ear grin on his face as he landed next to Sonic, "Oh man! You shoulda seen Robotnik's-" Tails stopped when he noticed the expression on his friend's face.  
  
Sonic folded his arms, staring angrily at him.  
  
Tails's ears drooped and he bit his lip slightly.   
  
Sonic couldn't hold it in anymore, "And just what do you think you were doing up there?"  
  
Tails cringed at Sonic's loud voice, "I-I was just trying to help," he nervously played with his two tails.  
  
"Yeah, well you could've gotten yourself captured - or worse hurt..." he sighed and turned slightly away. He looked up at the blimp, shaking his head, "And I wouldn't have been able to help you from down here," he whipped back around, "Why didn't you listen to me? I told you to stay-"  
  
"I know!" Tails shouted back.  
  
Sonic was surprised at his answer. Why couldn't Tails understand that he was just trying to protect him? He increased his own volume in his reply, "Then why did you do it?!"   
  
Tails paused for a moment, "I told you... I wanted to help!"  
  
Sonic growled, "Urgh! Fine! Help me ALL you want! Don't cry to me if Robotnik hurts you! I don't care!" He threw his hands up and then crossed them again.  
  
Tails teared up, "Sonic..."  
  
Sonic didn't respond.  
  
"I-I'm sorry. I won't do it again! I promise!"  
  
A large shadow spread over them as the blimp descended towards the field again. Sonic turned around and gazed up at it, mumbling angrily, "What's Buttnik up to now?"  
  
"He's gonna land on the field!" Tails exclaimed.  
  
Sonic took hold of Tails's hand, and before Tails realized it, they were standing down in the Ghunderthorks's dugout. Tails took the hint from Sonic's cold stare and hopped up on the warm-up bench.  
  
Sonic took a deep breath and looked at Tails, whose gaze was fixed on the dugout floor, his ears flattened.   
  
Sonic sighed, "Tails, I-" a thunderous sound interrupted his sentence and the ground shook, knocking a bunch of equipment over. Sonic quickly headed back out onto the field.  
  
Tails hopped off his seat and leaned out of the dugout, "Whoa!" Robotnik's RoboBlimp had slammed into a section of the astroturf near the Stripe Sox's dugout, shoving it up in an arch like a puppy sliding into a rug with the tail end of the blimp hanging in the air. Tails ached to chase after Sonic, but he didn't want to make him more upset. He didn't see the Ghunderthorks's pitcher stepping up behind him. He tapped Tails on the shoulder.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic approached the pitcher's mound again as the door to the blimp's main compartment opend and Scratch and Grounder tumbled down a few feet to the ground. A rumbling growl erupted and Sonic ducked as Coconuts's squealing body came flying his way. Coconuts hit the ground in a roll, his parts detaching and rolling all over the place, "I'd like to see Scratch and Grounder try ta land a blimp!"  
  
Robotnik stepped down out of the blimp, using Scratch and Grounder as steps, and headed towards the mound.  
  
"Hello, horrible hedgehog," Robotnik stopped about 10 ft. from the mound.  
  
"You'd better let them go now, Buttnik."  
  
"And prematurely end my plans for world domination? I think not."  
  
"You might as well give up. I'm not leaving until you leave."  
  
Robotnik concocted a new scheme in his head, "Hmmm, then what do you say to playing a game of Mobius's national pasttime?"  
  
"Haven't I beaten you enough this week?" Sonic smirked.  
  
Robotnik growled. "I challenge you to a game of baseball. If I win, you must surrender yourself to me."  
  
"When I win, what do I get?"  
  
"IF you should happen to win, by some miniscule miracle, I will return the players and leave the stadium."  
  
"How do I know you'll play by the rules?"  
  
"I'll keep him in line!" A voice shouted off to their right. They turned and saw Srgt. Doberman, a retired Mobian army officer heading towards them, "I've coached a few games in my day. I have the rules memorized to a T," he pulled out a huge rulebook with "Baseball Rules for Dummies" printed on the cover.  
  
"How do I know YOU won't favor the hedgehog?"  
  
"The umpire is at all times impartial to such trivial matters outside the game," he answered sternly, "Now do you both agree to play a fair game?"  
  
"As a rule, I always play it cool," Sonic answered with a smile.  
  
Robotnik grumbled and finally nodded.  
  
Srgt. Doberman pocketed his rulebook, "Now each of you must choose a minimum of 9 players for your team. If you can not come up with said number at any time during the course of the game or do not meet that standard, your team will be disqualified and the other team will be declared the winner."  
  
"9?!" Sonic's mind raced. He and Tails could play. But he still needed 7 more. Where on Mobius am I gonna find 7 other players?  
  
Robotnik smiled smugly, "It appears I have the upper hand, hedgehog."  
  
"What're you blabbing about? You don't have 9 players either."  
  
"That's what YOU think," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a remote, "Sonic, I would like to introduce you to your worst nightmares," he pointed it towards the blimp and pressed a button.  
  
"Who? Your offspring?" he laughed.  
  
"You won't be laughing much longer hedgehog!" Robotnik grinned as two large doors opened under the blimp and a bunch of dark figures leaped down to the ground. As they stepped into the light and headed towards them, Sonic was able to make out... baseball uniforms? Each of the tall, muscular robots wore a black and red uniform with red R's on the front. Printed on the front were the word, "Androids" and each had numbers on their shoulders and backs from 1 to 11.  
  
"Baseball robots?"  
  
"Not just any run of the mill baseball robots!" Robotnik beamed with pride, "Each of these robots has been infused with the combined talents of the Striped Sox and the Ghunderthorks - the most skilled teams on the planet! They can throw, catch, jump, hit, slide and stategize better than you and any ragtag team you could assemble."  
  
Sonic didn't know what to say to that. Playing chubby old Robotnik at sports was one thing, but playing a team of professionals? He realized he didn't even know that much about baseball! Sonic, what have you gotten yourself into now, he asked himself.  
  
"That's where you're wrong, Pops."   
  
"What?" Robotnik turned to see his disowned robotic son, Junior, hopping down onto the field followed by his other mutinous,malfuntioning bot, Breezie, and some of Sonic's other pathetic little friends. His eyes narrowed.  
  
"Guys!" Sonic rushed to greet them, "So you'll be on my team?"  
  
"You can count on us, Sonic," Miss Possum winked.  
  
"Dah, we won't let those guys win," Big Griz patted him on the back.  
  
Mad Mike added, "Yeah, we'll beat 'em good, if our name's..." His brother joined him in unison, "DA BEARZ!"   
  
"Which," Big Griz added with a smile, "It con-se-quent-ly is," he carefully enunciated the big word.  
  
"Well," MacHopper started, "What are we waitin' for mates? Let's play ball!"  
  
Srgt. Doberman carefully counted the number of members surrounding Sonic, "I'm afraid you're still one member short of the regulations.  
  
"Don't count him out just yet!" The Ghunderthorks pitcher and Tails came running out of the dug out, "You've got your last players right here!"  
  
"Who are you?" Sonic asked.  
  
Tails answered, "Sonic, I can't believe you don't recognize him! This is my absolute favorite baseball player, Bobby Bambino!"  
  
Robotnik's jaw dropped.  
  
"THE Bobby Bambino?" Sonic's eye's widened, "'The Fireball'?"  
  
"That's what they call me," he replied with a sweep of his hat, showing off his flame-colored hair, and replaced it on his head, "Your little friend here explained what's going on. I'll do anything to save my teammates, Sonic."  
  
Robotnik growled, "Of all the players those junk bots could miss, did they had to miss the BEST ONE?" Those robots were dead.  
  
Srgt. Doberman blew a whistle, "Then it's settled. The game will begin at 14 hundred hours sharp."  
  
Robotnik sneered and headed back to the ship. He would use this time to plan a few surprises for the hedgehog and his rag-tag baseball league. So what if that rodent had the greatest baseball player alive on his team? Robotnik had all the rest packed into every one of his. Clearly Robotnik did have the upper hand. Of course it could never hurt to shift the odds in his favor using some underhanded schemes, he thought. It was the only way to play.  
  
Sonic's team headed back to the Ghunderthorks's dugout. "An hour," Hodge Podge sighed, "At least that'll give us some time to pratice, Sonic."  
  
"Yeah, I have a feeling we're gonna need it, old buddy."  
  
END OF CHAPTER 3 


	4. What's more important than playing the g...

*****  
  
A/N: Fixed some errors in earlier chapters. If you see any let me know so I can correct them. Editing is much easier when you aren't the one reading it XD   
  
Oh and Toni? Yeah, it's 9 required players - I've checked various sources and they all say you need the three basemen, three outfielders, pitcher, catcher and shortstop, DH is optional and other players are optional but usually put in. As for Sonic and Tails, well Sonic wasn't really mad, more worried and he was going to apologize, but they were interrupted, as always XD Have no fear though ;) At least not yet... *evil laughter* I probably should have toned it down a little, but I wrote that one before I learned building in acting class... want me to re-write it?  
  
Anyways, yeah Bambino for the Babe cause let's face it, he rocked XD And now let's keep it going... Enjoy XD  
  
Oh one more thing... I started this story last December, WAY before the Sonic X baseball game episode. Everyone who has read "An Author's Nightmare" knows that It's been in the works... just so you don't think I'm copying off them... Thanks.  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 4: "What's more important than playing the game?"   
  
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All of Sonic's friends gathered in the locker room behind their new dugout, chatting and catching up on what everyone had been doing lately. Nobody seemed to know what this quick meeting was about, but Sonic had said it was important that everyone make it.  
  
"I'm BAAAACK!" Sonic called from the doorway. Everyone greeted him as he headed to a green chalkboard near the door, "And... I've brought a surprise!"  
  
"What is it, Sonic sweety?" Breezie asked.  
  
"Hold on just a sec!" Sonic winked and raced out of the room. A few seconds later he raced back in, wearing a way past cool baseball uniform. It was all white except for thick blue stripes that ran down the sides and around the sleeves. On the front was a huge blue swirl and the word, "Cyclones" stitched in black cursive letters over it. He also had a blue and white baseball cap with a blue swirl on the front.  
  
"The Cyclones? Awesome!" Tails exclaimed. Everyone else also oohed and awed at the uniform. Sonic then spoke in a infomercial host voice, "But wait! That's not all!" He rushed out of the room, and wheeled in a huge cardboard box on a dolly. He set it down and pulled more uniforms out of the box, "Buy one and you get 11 free!"  
  
Tails rushed over and dug into the box, pulling out one that was just his size, "Sonic? Where did you get these awesome uniforms?" Everyone else pulled their uniforms out of the box too.  
  
"Wes Weasley gave 'em to me."  
  
Tails' eyes bugged out, "Wes Weasley GAVE them to you?"  
  
"Yeah right, Sonic," Junior laughed, "Come on, where'd you get 'em?"  
  
Sonic whistled and lo and behold, Wes Weasley entered, wearing an identical baseball uniform, "Heya, Palsys."  
  
"How come you're all the sudden helping us?" Miss Possum inquired.  
  
"Hang on a minute, palsy! Don't be so quick to judge me!" he said as he waltzed among them, "Sonic here helped me get a new job in the athletic uniform biz," he flashed a smile at him, "I'm just returning the favor."  
  
Everyone still looked a bit nervous about him. After all, he had backstabbed them at Sonic's Hero of the Year party.  
  
Sonic reassured them, "Don't worry guys, he's legit." His sports watch suddenly chimed twice. Sonic read the time on it, "Uh-oh, we've only got 15 minutes before the game."  
  
"Hey uh, Sonic, what uh positions are we gonna play?" Big Griz asked.  
  
"I knew I forgot something!"  
  
"I can handle that," Bobby Bambino said, stepping forward, "I've been watching you guys practice and I have the perfect positions in mind."  
  
"You're the expert here, Mr. Fireball," Sonic said, "Take it away!"  
  
"You can call me Bobby," he replied with a smile, "Alright, Da Bearz, you guys work great together, you will play left and right outfield."  
  
"You got it," they replied.  
  
"And Hodge Podge, you're almost as fast as Sonic, we need a good runner to play center outfield and catch the pop flies."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Breezie and Junior, you will play first and second base - your robotic reflexes will come in handy there to give us some quick outs."  
  
They smiled at each other, "No one will get past us," Junior gave him a thumbs up.  
  
"Miss Possum, you'll join them on 3rd base."  
  
"Alright, I was hoping you'd say that!" she replied, "That's my favorite!"  
  
"MacHopper, you've got a quick eye and made some great catches during practice, so you'll be our catcher," Bobby smiled.  
  
"I'll give it my all, mate."  
  
"And Tails, you'd be great as Short Stop, since your small but quick."  
  
"What about me?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I've never seen anyone as fast as you - so you're our best hope to steal and score base runs. You'll be our designated hitter."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"And Wes, is it? We need someone to take care of the dugout while we're out on the infield. Could you stick around for a while?"  
  
"Sure thing, Mr. Bambino. It's always a pleasure to work with a celebrity. Looks great on a resumé, you know."  
  
"And I'll pitch, since it's what I do best."  
  
Sonic smiled, "Sounds like a plan! Alright everyone! Huddle!"  
  
They gathered together in a tight circle. Sonic gazed around at the faces of his friends, "Now, I know the odds are against us here with Robotnik's super bots, but we've got something he doesn't have... Teamwork. Most of us here have been in tougher scrapes than this together and we've always come out on top. I don't think this time will be any different..." he put his hand in the center of their circle, "Whatdya say guys? Let's go show Robotnik how way past cool we are!"  
  
All of their hands joined his in the center. "Go Cyclones!" Tails shouted.  
  
They pulled their hands down, "GO-" and threw them up in the air, "CYCLONES!" They all whooped and hollered and dashed out of the locker room, heading up to the dugout.  
  
*****  
  
Robotnik paced up and down his line of robots, inspecting each one for any malfunctions no matter how minute. Finally satisfied, he let out a sigh, "Athletic Androids, return to the dugout and await further instructions."  
  
They all saluted, "Yes sir, Lord Robotnik," and marched out of the locker room single file toward the dugout.  
  
Robotnik giggled at the new salutation, "Oooh! It has such a nice ring to it! I really ought to program that one into my SSSSS Squad. Speaking of which, I need to give them a few last minute instructions... SCRATCH! GROUNDER!"  
  
After a few seconds, followed by arguing and a loud crash with some spare parts rolling by the opening to the hallway, Scratch and Grounder skidded into the room. They stood at attention, "You called, Coach?" Scratch asked.  
  
"Do me a favor and not use that title," Robotnik growled, "It brings back bad memories."  
  
"Oh! Of course, sir."  
  
"Now, the reason why I called you here is to equip you for the game-"  
  
"You mean we getta play?" Grounder squealed with delight, hopping up and down, "Oh boy! I wanna be the catcher! Can I? Can I Dr. Robotnik? Please?"  
  
Robotnik's face turned red, "NO! You're not going to play in the game you retarted robot! You clutz bots would make me lose to Sonic for sure!"  
  
"Aww..." Grounder hung his head.  
  
"No, you two have a more important job."  
  
"What's more important than playing the game?" Scratch asked.  
  
"Why, winning of course!" Robotnik sneered, "Any way that I can."  
  
"Oh, I get it! B-WAHAHAHA!" Scratch laughed, "We're gonna get to cheat, right?"  
  
"Of course, " Robotnik walked over to a large closet, "In here are some of my latest traps and weapons for you to use. Unfortunately, I don't have time to demostrate them for you. I don't care what you use as long as you get rid of Sonic and all his teammates... especially Bambino. If we can put him on the bench, the game is as good as ours!"  
  
"You can count on us, sir!"  
  
Robotnik sighed heavily, "Oh the cruel ironies that constantly plague my life!"  
  
"what?"  
  
"Nevermind... I have a game to win!" He stomped out of the locker room and up to the dugout.  
  
"OOH!" Grounder reached for the closet door, "I wonder what kind of stuff Dr. Robotnik made for us?"  
  
"Who cares! Just open it!"   
  
He did and a huge wave of stuff flowed out of the closet, "AHHHHH!" They were immediately buried under the pile of gadgets and gizmos.  
  
"Ooh!" Grounder cried excitedly from under the pile, "I wonder what this one does?"  
  
A wave of electricity shot out of the pile as Scratch screamed. He crawled out from under the pile of stuff, his body looked a little extra crispy.  
  
"Oh..." Grounder replied to his own question woozily, "So t-that's how it works."  
  
"Grounder, do us both a favor." Scratch coughed. "Don't try anything else."  
  
END OF CHAPTER 4 


	5. We're gonna win baby! Win! Win!

*****  
  
A/N: Okay, FINALLY the game starts XD Told you this fic would be a long one. But at least now the real action starts, huh? :)  
  
*****  
  
CHAPTER 5: "We're gonna win baby! WIN! WIN!"  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
A few minutes later, both teams had gathered in their dugouts. Srgt. Doberman had donned a black and white refree outfit, complete with black cleats, a tiny black cap and a silvery whistle draped around his neck.  
  
A booming voice echoed over the stands, "Welcome back, spoits fans!"  
  
"COCONUTS?!" Robotnik growled, "How did he get into the announcer booth?"  
  
"Well, he said he wanted to do it," Grounder replied with a shrug.  
  
"You LET him in?" Robotnik leaned down towards him, Grounder cowering on the ground.  
  
"B-but there's no one else who would do it!"  
  
"Well, at least he's good for something," Robotnik sighed.  
  
***  
  
"Sonic! It's Coconuts!" Tails tugged on his jersey sleeve.  
  
"Don't worry bro, if he tries anything funny, Srgt. Doberman will handle it."  
  
***  
  
Back up in the booth, a green, bullet-shaped robot gave the red monkey bot a sheet of computer paper.   
  
"I've just been handed the official line-ups for the game of the century! First up is the home team, in blue and white... Sonic's Cyclones," the baseball fans erupted into wild cheers and applause.  
  
Coconuts stared at the paper in his hand to make sure he had read that right, "EEE-Yuck. What kind of stupid name is that?" The crowds nearest the booth booed and a few tomatoes hit the glass surrounding the annoucer booth, "Sheesh! Sorry I asked!"   
  
He cleared his throat, and scanned the page further down, "And the visitors, the best, most talented, most qualified - these guys are gonna win for sure-" More jeers and a rotten fish slammed into the glass, "Alright! In the red and black uniforms... Robotnik's Androids! Yahoo! We're gonna win baby! WIN! WIN!" Coconuts worked himself into a laughing fit.   
  
The crowds responded with mass booing, hissing and tossing a few random objects at the roof of the Androids dugout. Robotnik heard the bombardment and poked his head out of the dugout. He was immediately hit with a half-eaten hotdog, mustard and ketchup oozing down his mustaches. He growled and ducked back inside, mumbling curses under his breath.  
  
Coconuts set his paper down in front of him, "Okay, so here's the batting line-up for the Stupid-er Cyclones: Bobby Bambino," his picture and a few stats appeared up on the giant TV board beside the even more humungous scoreboard, and it changed for each player. The crowds again roared with frantic cheering, "MacHopper Kangaroo, Sonic Hedgehog, Hodge Podge Hare, Breezie Robotnik, Mad Mike Bear, Tails Prower, Junior Robotnik, Big Griz Bear, and Miss Possum."  
  
"And the line-up for the Androids is: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 10, 8, 7 and 9. Waita minute! That's out of order!"  
  
***  
  
"When I'm dictator of Mobius, that is how everyone will count!" Robotnik commented.   
  
***  
  
"And the umpire for today's game is Srgt. Doberman."  
  
Srgt. Doberman took to the field and blew his whistle, "LET'S PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY BALL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The stadium shook with clapping and cheers once again. Robotnik's nine super baseball robots marched out onto the field, taking their positions.  
  
Bobby Bambino snatched up his favorite bat and moved into the warm-up circle. He took a few quick, but powerful swings and headed for the batter's box. He took a second to glance towards the dugout and give a thumbs up to his new teammates, they all cheered him on.  
  
"Hit a homer, Bobby!" Tails called, leaping out of his seat, "Knock it outta the park!"  
  
The sergeant took his place standing behind the muscular catcher robot and tossed a baseball to the robot pitcher. The pitcher effortlessly leaped in the air and caught it. He prepared to fire the first pitch. Bobby situated himself beside home plate and leaned forward, pulling his bat back and focusing completely on the ball. The pitcher eyed the catcher and a scanning of data passed over their eyes. This threw Bobby off guard. Was that how they were communicating pitching signals?  
  
The pitcher wound up and launched the ball. Bobby stumbled backwards as it grazed his chest. He landed on his rear, a little stunned. That was one fast ball and it nearly knocked the wind out of him.   
  
"BALL ONE!" Srgt. Doberman cried.  
  
Bobby sighed. At least it wasn't a strike. He figured these guys were programmed to try and walk him and strike out everyone else. Well, I can play your game, Robotnik, he smiled to himself as he got back up on his feet. He situated himself again and prepared to hit as the catcher threw back the ball. The pitcher then pitched the ball the same way again. But this time, Bobby lunged forward and grabbed the end of his bat, thrusting it out. The ball richoceted off of it and Bobby took off on a mad dash towards first base.  
  
"Wow-oh-wow!" Coconuts leapt on top of his seat, "Did you see that, folks? Bambino bunted that ball and now he's barreling for first base!" The fans leaped to their feet and cheered madly.  
  
All of the robots immediately scrambled towards the ball, as Robotnik yelled into a control device, "You IDIOTS! Only one of you needs to retrieve it! Number 1 stay on first!"  
  
The robot immediately returned to first as the catcher reached the ball and threw it towards first. Bobby just managed to reach the plate before the ball whizzed into the first basebot's glove.  
  
"SAFE!" the sergeant called.  
  
Whooping echoed from the Cyclones dugout, and the "wave" also echoed back and forth among the rows of fans.  
  
MacHopper meanwhile, had been warming up in the batter's circle and hopped to home plate. He pulled a hefty bat out of his pouch and swung it around. He adjusted his baseball cap and wiggled around, "I'm ready when you are, ya rotten excuse for ah eucalyptis juicer," he smirked.  
  
The robot growled and pitched a fast ball at him. MacHopper swung at just the right time and the ball connected, hitting the ground early and skidding between 2nd and 3rd base. The bots chased after it again as Bobby and MacHopper dashed for the bases.  
  
The crowds cheered as the robots tried to toss the ball back to 2nd and then to 1st, but were too late both times (though extremely close).  
  
"Go on Sonic," Tails handed him a bat, "It's your turn."  
  
"Here goes something." Sonic waved to his friends and headed directly to the plate. He didn't need a warm-up, he was ready to face this head on. He didn't recall ever playing baseball that much as a kid. He hoped he'd be able to smack this ball out of the park and get a few points on the board. The uniformed hedgehog stepped into the batter's box and stood impatiently, tapping his foot, his bat resting against his shoulder.  
  
The pitcher was warming up a little.  
  
"YO, BOT-HEAD!" Sonic yelled, "I'm WAAAAAAAITING!"  
  
The bot quickly stopped and threw the ball. Sonic swung the bat with all of his might, waiting to hear the crack as he knocked it into the next episode. He didn't and instead hear a swift whiff as the catcher caught the ball.  
  
"STRIKE ONE!" the Sergeant called.  
  
Everyone in the dugout gasped and Tails's mouth was wide enough for a boat to sail through. Sonic got a strike? No way! Sonic had just about the same reaction. He quickly straightened up and pulled his bat back, pointing at the bot. "I'd like to see you try that again!"  
  
The pitcher and catcher eyed each other again and passed a stream of information. The pitcher then threw a curve ball towards Sonic, who once again swung heavily and missed it completely.  
  
"STRIKE TWO!"  
  
Dr. Robotnik leapt to his feet, "Wonderful! My robots are a complete success!" He cupped his hands and shouted to his players, "Strike him out, boys!"  
  
Everyone in the dugout was chattering frantically. Tails shouted to Sonic, "C'mon Sonic! You can do it!"  
  
Sonic staightened up and held the bat back. He focused completely on the pitcher. No way was he going to miss again.  
  
Way. The pitcher launched another fast ball and Sonic's powerful swing totally missed it. His heart felt like someone had stabbed it with a knife. The whole dugout groaned as Srgt. Doberman called "STTTRIKE THREE! YOU'RE OUT!"  
  
Robotnik's robots cheered and the crowd booed. Robotnik had never been so giddy in his whole life, "It seems you've struck out, rodent! I guess you don't have what it takes!" he taunted as Sonic headed back to the dugout.  
  
Bobby had been watching this from 2nd base and couldn't believe it himself. Sonic obviously did not understand the proper technique for hitting a ball. Bobby frowned. This was his fault - he should have made sure that Sonic knew what he was doing; but he had seemed so confident. He sure doesn't look confident now, Bobby thought.  
  
No one said anything to Sonic as he plopped down on the bench and tossed his batting helmet on the floor of the dugout. They didn't know what to say. Nobody expected HIM to get stuck out; and in the first inning at that! The blue hedgehog leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. Man, how could he have embarrassed himself like that? He now realized he didn't know as much as he thought he did about baseball. It sure looked a heck of a lot easier on TV!  
  
Hodge Podge, meanwhile, had been warming up and now stepped up to the plate, "I'm gonna hit this one for you, Sonic!" He smiled to him, but Sonic only made brief eye contact with a quick smile and then looked away. He couldn't bear it. Everyone was depending on him to score runs, and he couldn't even hit the ball - not even once!  
  
Tails scooted in beside him, "Sonic... are you alright?"  
  
Sonic sighed, "I'm no good to you guys if I can't hit the ball."  
  
Tails handed Sonic his baseball cap, "It's not you, Sonic! Those robots are really good."  
  
The crowd suddenly cheered and Sonic and Tails looked up to see Hodge Podge speed to first and Bobby and MacHopper dash to 3rd and 2nd. He had smacked a grounder that was rolling precariously close to the foul line. One of the outfielders quickly chased after it and fielded it back to the pitcher, keeping the runners stuck on their bases.  
  
"Then how come everyone else is getting hits?" Sonic asked Tails, running his fingers across the stitches of the cap in his hands.   
  
"Hey look! Breezie's up now!" Tails pointed.  
  
Sonic turned his attention to the plate and saw Breezy carefully focused ahead. She adjusted her batting helmet and leaned forward. The pitcher launched an incredibly fast ball and her bat connected with it, shooting the ball high into the air. Breezie dropped her bat and took off for first, hoping they wouldn't catch it.  
  
The robots in the outfield scrambled together and one of them finally leaped and caught her ball.  
  
"OUT!" Srgt. Doberman called as Breezie turned around and headed for the dug out. The crowd groaned as another out was displayed on the huge lighted scoreboard.  
  
Breezie sat down beside Sonic and sighed.   
  
"Don't sweat it, Breezie," Tails said, "It's just the first inning."  
  
"I hope Mike has better luck," she replied, watching the tall bear step up to the plate. He turned and gave a thumbs up to everyone.  
  
"Hit a grand slam, Mike!" Big Griz stood and cheered from his seat.  
  
"You got it!" He frowned in concentration and swung his bat back, his hips wiggling back and forth, ready to swing, ready to hit.  
  
The pitcher and catcher passed a signal to each and the catcher wound up, and launched a fast ball at Mike. Mike swung powerfully, but missed.  
  
"STRIKE ONE!"  
  
Mike straightened up and growled softly, the whole of his being now utterly focused on the ball in the pitcher's hand. The pitcher wasted no time throwing another pitch. The ball arched towards home plate as Mad Mike let out his rage and swung hard, barely connecting with the ball. It reflected off his bat at high speed towards the pitcher who immediately held up his mitt in front of his face. The ball whizzed through the glove, and blasted into the pitcher's face, damaging the circuitry, the ball tumbling to the ground.  
  
"ARGH!" Robotnik growled as the pitcher stumbled and fell over.  
  
Mike looked towards Srgt. Doberman for a call. The dog scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Hmm, this is a tough one," then he suddenly stood up straight and blew his whistle, "OUT!"  
  
The crowd erupted into loud chatter and a resounding "BOO!" echoed across the stands.  
  
"That's not fair!" Tails stood up and started to yell, but Sonic stopped him.  
  
"Chill out, Keed. Yelling at Srgt. Doberman won't do us any good."  
  
"But Sonic, you saw-"  
  
"Yeah, and we have to accept his call. He's the umpire."  
  
He sighed, "Okay."  
  
"Besides, now it's time for you," Sonic passed him his glove, "To get out there and play!"  
  
"Alright! We'll get 'em out so fast, they won't know what hit 'em!"   
  
"Attaboy!" Sonic ruffled his friend's hair as Tails smiled and put on his cap. He waved and headed out onto the field with the rest of the team as Robotnik's bots marched single file back to their dugout.  
  
Sonic settled back into his seat. He smiled and carefully placed his cap on his head. For the first inning, things were going all right. Actually, it surprised Sonic that so far Dr. Robotnik was sticking to the rules. He frowned, no way that could last for the whole game. He glanced toward the Androids dugout and spotted the bloated dictator smirking to himself, watching the players take to the field. "If he tries anything, I'll be here to stop him."  
  
END OF CHAPTER 5 


	6. Ya can't save anyone if you break your n...

=========  
  
A/N: Just a reminder, I wrote this before the Sonic X episode, so no, "You copied that episode!" Okay? XD thanks guys. Enjoy! ^_^ Now the game is finally getting interesting...   
  
Oh, and Toni? This is gonna be a LONG one... meaning this would not fit as an episode like my earlier stories... I estimate so far that it will have at least double this number of chapters if not a couple more, since I AM writing out all the innings (with a few skips here and there due to chapter content as you shall see XD) To anyone else who wants to do a baseball story.. please do yourself a favor and use some inning montages like normal people XD don't be creative like me... it hurts XD hahaha!  
  
=========  
  
CHAPTER 6: "Ya can't save anyone if you break your neck!"  
  
----------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Hey Spoits fans!" Coconuts voice echoed out of the loudspeakers, "Now you're gonna see some real baseball! Up first is Robot Number One!" The crowds immediately booed in response and Coconuts sighed, "Ah, blow it out your ears!" The crowd quickly responded by launching a bunch of corn at his window. Coconuts jumped and fell out of his chair, "Well, at least they can't hit me in here!" he smiled happily.  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby tossed the small sack in his hands a few more times and dropped it beside him. He signaled for MacHopper to throw him the ball; which he did almost immediately. Bouncing it from his glove to his hand, he felt the weight of the ball and rolled it in his hands before he finally got a tight grip on it. It was a warm up ritual he knew well.   
  
Bobby straightened up and stared down the robotic player standing attention at home plate. The robot took a few swings and then stood ready to hit. Bobby flung his arm around in a perfect circle and let loose his ball at just the right moment, the ball whizzing through the air at incredible speed.  
  
The batter swung, but the ball dropped just below him and into MacHopper's glove.  
  
"STRIKE ONE!"  
  
Robotnik cursed on the sidelines as the MacHopper tossed back the ball and the dramatic scene started up again.  
  
Within a matter of minutes, Bobby had successfully struck out the first three players on the Androids lineup with his usual variety of wild pitches: the "Sleezeball," the "Loop-de-loop" and of course, his should-have-been-patented "FireBall."  
  
Three massive dents in the wall of the Androids dug out cleary marked how frustrated Robotnik was, but Sonic and the gang couldn't help smiling their mouths off and singing taunts at the Androids from the field. Tails came up with an especially good one, "Ro-butt-nik's bots, bots, bots, they think they're hot, hot, hot! We know they're not, not, not! 'Cause they get out a LOT, LOT, LOT!"   
  
  
  
The Androids regrouped and began to take to the field as the Cyclones headed in, still chanting their song louldy. Meanwhile, Robotnik stormed to the Dugout phone and made a quick call. Sonic didn't notice however, as he was preoccupied with congratulating Bobby and MacHopper with the rest of the team.   
  
"WHERE ARE YOU TWO?" Robotnik roared and then went silent for a moment. The seconds-long eye of the storm passed over and he continued his screaming rampage, "CAN'T YOU TWO DO ANYTHING RIGHT?" Obviously they couldn't as he continued to run through his favorite curses at them. Then he stopped, "YOU WHAT?" The information was obviously a pleasant surprise as his mouth curved up in a smile, "I like the way you think, Scratch," he lowered his voice, "Just make sure that dopey dog doesn't discover you!"   
  
* * *  
  
After the round of congratulating was over, Sonic gathered everyone together, "Okay team, that was a great first round--"  
  
"Inning!" Tails interjected.  
  
"Inning, round, whatever... The point is, you guys rocked!" The team cheered again and Sonic quieted them down, "But let's not forget, we've still got eight left, so keep your guards up and keep playing hard."  
  
Tails picked up his bat and put on his batting helmet. He helitailed out towards the field when Sonic caught his foot.  
  
"Hold up, Tails!"  
  
Tails whined, "Sonic! It's MY turn!"  
  
"I know, Slugger," Sonic smiled, "I just wanted to tell ya good skills."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Good skills, cause you don't need luck, lil bud."  
  
Tails smiled, pride glowing on his face, "Thanks Sonic!"  
  
"You whack that little sucker and start runnin', ya hear me? I wanna see a home run!"  
  
"You got it, Sonic!" Tails nodded as he hurried off.  
  
Sonic's smile faded as worry creeped over his face. He did not like the idea of Tails going solo against a whole team of Buttnik's bots. It was taking all his self control to not follow the orange kit out to home plate. It's not that I don't trust him -- I do, Sonic convinced himself, It's Buttnik I don't trust.  
  
Tails showed no fear as he stepped up to the plate. He could feel the cheer of the crowd as Coconuts announced his name over the loudspeaker and his photo and stats flashed up on the colorful screen. Tails stood tall and closed his eyes, taking it all in. His heart beat fast and strong. A fresh burst of adrenaline pumped through his body, energizing and frightening him at the same time. He sure was gonna savor the look on old buttnik's face when he knocked it all the way into the parking lot. Too bad his Egg-O-Matic wasn't parked there. He'd love to put a baseball-sized dent in it.  
  
Tails spread his feet and crowded the plate. He smiled. His short stature was coming in handy, giving him a microscopic strike zone. He stared forward, his heart thumping out of his chest, waiting for the pitcher. An eternity passed by him before the catcher and pitcher bots finally exchanged a couple signals and the pitcher bot reeled back. Tails gripped the guts out of his bat and planted one foot.  
  
The pitcher thrust the tiny sphere and it came zooming towards Tails.  
  
Tails was a little slow on his reaction time and barely knicked the ball with the end of his bat, sending it up towards the crowds behind home plate.  
  
"FOUL BALL!"  
  
"No!" Tails's heart felt like it rammed into his stomach. This queasiness melted away when he heard a voice from behind him yell, "Attaboy Tails! Whack that sucker!"  
  
The Sergeant threw out a new ball to the pitcher and Tails leaned down into the plate again, his heart still fluttering. The bots exchanged their invisible signals once more and the pitcher reeled, sending an even faster ball at him.   
  
He reacted quickly this time and swung hard, making a sweet connection with it and knocking it over the pitcher's head towards right field. Tails wasted no time in taking off towards first, twirling his tails to give him a huge burst of speed. The outfield robots were more prepared than their infield counterparts. The right fielder darted under the ball. The grass shook underneathe him and he fell forward onto his metal face, the ball landing moments later and skidding past him. Robotnik's Robo-Blimp swayed back and forth and toppled over onto the field as everything shook violently. The crowds panicked as a crack opened up along the first base foul line. A couple smaller cracks branched off as the ground rumbled. Sonic leapt up and screamed, but it was too late.  
  
The uniformed kit had been running so fast he didn't realize what was happening and tripped into the giant crevice as that section of the field split massively in two.  
  
Sonic almost froze on the spot, but quicker than his teammates could exclaim out their shock, he was leaning over the edge of the fresh cliff that sheered down into deep darkness. A tiny form was clinging only 20 or so feet below him.  
  
Tails lifted his head, "SONIC!"  
  
"HANG ON KEED!" Sonic zoomed back through the dugout and into the locker room, desperately searching for rope or any random object that would suffice for the moment.  
  
Meanwhile, as Tails fingers began to ache from cluthing the crumbling cliffside, someone dug out a hole across from him and two hands gently pried him off the wall. Tails knew it had to be Sonic and relaxed, closing his eyes, trying to slow down his furiously beating heart. That was a close one.  
  
  
  
The rest of the team ran out towards the crevice, along with the Sergeant. Sonic passed them with a massive length of rope and threw an end down, peering down. Sonic fell to his knees, "TAILS?!"  
  
Tails could barely hear his name echo through the dark tunnel he was being carried through. "Sonic?" He laid his arm on the one that was holding him and gasped as the bare part of his arm brushed cold steel.   
  
Sonic stepped back and jumped into the air, preparing to dive into a Super Sonic Spin. Hodgepodge was on him nearly as fast as Sonic had returned and snatched him up by his ankle, dangling Sonic in front of himself, "Don't you go doin' anything crazy, partner!"  
  
Sonic kicked and grabbed Hodgepodge's hands, "Let go! I gotta save him!"  
  
"Ya can't save anyone if you break your neck!" Hodgepodge replied angrily, "Now calm down and hang tight a minute," he placed Sonic on the ground.  
  
Breezie activated her helicopter and flew down, followed by Junior, Da Bearz holding his feet as he extended his legs and propelled down into the crevice. Sonic shoved HodgePodge off him and peered down as Junior and Breezy disappeared into darkness.  
  
* * *  
  
A few frantic minutes passed. Sonic could hardly believe how much chaos had happened within a few seconds. While he was sorely worried about Tails, another thought suddenly entered his mind. What the heck could cause an earthquake like that? He narrowed his eyes. Dr. Robotnik could.  
  
Sonic was about to take a look at him when the two bots returned emptyhanded. Breezy took a hold of Sonic's hand, "Sonic sweety..."  
  
Sonic's heart skipped a beat and a chill ran up his prickly spine, "Did he?"  
  
Junior shrugged, "Well, he didn't hit the bottom... In fact, there's no trace of him anywhere!"  
  
Sonic didn't know what to make of this. A million different theories formed in his mind.   
  
The Sergeant interrupted his thoughts, "It's time to continue the game, son."  
  
"My little buddy just vanished and you want me to play some stupid GAME?"  
  
"Need I remind you hedgehog," A horribly polite voice interjected from behind him, "That this game is for all the 'chilidogs,' to put it YOUR way."   
  
Sonic turned on him, "Alright, Eggbelly. I'm onto your scheme! What's with the earthquake and where's Tails?"  
  
Robotnik frowned, "Accusing me? _I_ didn't do anything! I was just happily watching our pleasant game from the safety of my dugout. Isn't that right, Srgt. Doberman?"  
  
He nodded, "Affirmative."  
  
Sonic growled, "Okay, so I can't prove you did anything. But WHEN I find Tails, I'm gonna kick your Ro-butt into the cheap seats."  
  
"PLAY BALL!" The Sergeant blew his whistle and everyone but Sonic cleared back to the dugouts.   
  
Sonic tugged on his sleeve, and the Sergeant bent over. Sonic glared at him. "And how pray tell, are we supposed to 'play ball' with a CLIFF running along the base line?"  
  
The Sergeant stopped and thought for a moment, "Hmmmm," he scratched his chin thoughtfully. Then the answer came to him! "Very carefully," he replied and headed back.  
  
Sonic sighed heavily, slapping his forehead. He was really starting to get sick of this game.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 6  
  
==========  
  
A/N: MWAHAHA! Fear the cliffhanger! ^_^ Don't worry, I'll update as soon as I finish editing 7. But you might speed it up if you review XD hahaha, just kidding ;)  
  
========== 


	7. We believe in youse

*****  
  
A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews. XD Yeah, Tails does tend to get into trouble, but you will get to see him do... well, I won't give away my own plot! XD MWAHAHAHA! ^___^ Enjoy!  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 7: "We believe in youse."  
  
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Tails grunted and tried to force himself forward again. "SCREEEE," the squeaky wheels cried as the chair he was tied to scooted another couple of inches across the floor.  
  
"MOVE! Stupid chair!"  
  
He sighed as the padded chair spun a little. If he were only a few inches taller his feet would touch the floor and he could push himself to the desk. But since he obviously wasn't due for another growth spurt anytime soon and his ankles were bound anyways, he had to try something different.  
  
"That's it!" Tails smiled, whirling up his tails -- which those robo-creepazoids, Scratch and Grounder had neglected to tie up -- he began to glide across the room, "YAY!"  
  
He finally rammed into the desk, knocking over a glass of Egg Nog onto a stack of important-looking documents, "Whoops! Clumsy me!" Tails snickered and bumped the desk a few more times, causing a mini-earthquake to shake up the rest of the objects onto the floor. A couple more expensive looking things toppled off and shattered.  
  
Tails leaned to his left and tried to twist the chair around. He then leaned forward and reached his fingers up towards the long desk drawer. They scraped the edge of it and he rocked back and then stretched harder, struggling to get as far as the nylon yellow ropes would let him. Grasping the handle, he wiggled frantically and tried to move forward. The desk drawer rolled out a little and Tails spun around triumphantly. He peered down into the drawer and discovered a mess of the usual office supplies - among which was a black-handled pair of shears.  
  
It took the patient kit another minute to turn around again and fish them out successfully. He finally grasped the handles and slipped it onto his fingers, "Here goes!" He started to cut, but it was a lot trickier than he figured.  
  
A sudden roar from the crowds above caught his attention. He had been so close to getting a taste of glory. Then those stupid bots had to come and ruin it with their Quake Maker and ruin his chances of hitting a home run. And just when he was finally going to prove himself to Sonic.   
  
"OUCH!" Tails had poked himself with the shears. Yeah, some help he was to the team. He knew Sonic was probably freaking out right now. Considering that his big bro wasn't playing well in the first place, worrying himself to death wouldn't improve his batting average.  
  
It wasn't.  
  
* * *  
  
"STRRRIIIIKE THREE! You're out, Hedgehog!" Sergeant Doberman hiked his thumb back to the dugout, where Sonic headed, his head hung low.  
  
Dr. Robotnik leaned out of his dugout, "What's wrong Sonic? Is something BOTHERING you?" He laughed and sat back down.  
  
Sonic threw a nasty look at him, but didn't feel like saying anything in particular to him. It would just be a waste of energy. They needed all the energy they could get, since... since they were still down by one player.   
  
Sonic glanced up at the scoreboard as he sat down at the end of the bench. The number of strikes, balls, and outs switched back to zeros and another big fat zero appeared under the fourth inning in the Cyclones score row. A hand brushed his quills gently.  
  
He turned to see Miss Possum smiling at him.  
  
"Look at it this way Sonic, at least that crooked old snake-in-the-grass hasn't scored yet either."  
  
She had a good point. Sonic looked around at his teammates as they gathered their field gear and headed out. Everyone had been working hard to keep the team spirit up and it showed in how well focused everyone was. Well, everyone but him.   
  
He couldn't help it though! What was he supposed to do? Just forget that Tails was missing and go on like nothing had happened? No way. He couldn't bring himself to do that.   
  
Why did he even let his little buddy play in the first place? He should have known Robotnik would try something like that. Sonic tried to crack a smile at Miss Possum, but it fell into a frown.  
  
Miss Possum lowered her voice, "Did ya find any clues the last time you were 'out'?"  
  
Sonic shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. I've looked everywhere, Miss Possum." During the the time he wasn't at bat or on the field playing Tails's position Sonic had searched; but he had come no further along to figuring out what happened.   
  
"Except the Androids' dugout," she whispered.  
  
"Yeah, but ya know I can't just walk over there and go in," he sighed and stared at his feet.  
  
"I know, Sonic. I know." Miss Possum gently lifted up his face with her hand, "Keep your chin up, partner. We haven't lost this game yet, and Tails is as good as found. Now we gotta get goin'!" She grabbed her glove and ran out of the dugout, heading for third base.  
  
Sonic thought for a moment longer. Then he reached under the bench and picked up his glove. In a second he leapt over the rail of the dugout, and was zooming onto the field.  
  
Coconuts' voice boomed over the loudspeaker system, "And it looks like they're ready for the bottom half of the inning, folks! The Androids are gonna score lots and lots of runs! Yep! Yep! And ya can take that to the bank!" The angry crowd threw a bunch of pennies at his glass, creating a crack across it, "Hey! Hey! HEY! Do I look like a stupid fountain? Keep your change to yourselves!"  
  
Before the next bot stepped up to bat, Robotnik pulled him down and whispered something into his metallic ear. The bot nodded and then approached home plate.  
  
Bobby had been watching this and his eyes narrowed. Dr. Robotnik was planning another dirty trick. Perhaps he should try to walk this tin can? But what if that was what he wanted? He certainly didn't want to chance putting a bot on base if Robotnik was planning to hit a homer anytime soon. Bobby knew that these bots had to be holding back. He hadn't had any problems pitching yet, and that was worrying him.   
  
Sergeant Doberman blew his whistle and MacHopper signaled for the "loop-de-loop," exactly what Bobby had in mind. He nodded and reared back, twisting his wrist and flinging the ball towards the plate, the ball looping in spirals like it was going down a drain.  
  
The bot stepped forward and swung, its eyes glowing red. The ball ricocheted back at a frightful speed. Bobby instinctively went defensive and put up his hands to block the ball from knocking him in the head.  
  
CRACK! There was no doubt that the ball's blow had immediately crippled Bobby's hand as he cried out and fell to his knees, clenching his teeth.   
  
The team came running towards him, Sonic and Hodgepodge arriving the quickest. Bobby dropped his glove from his right hand and held out his left one towards Sonic, "I-I think that it's broken."  
  
Sonic took one look at his mangled hand and replied, "Wrong! I know it's broken! Don't move it! I'll be right back!"   
  
Hodgepodge helped him up as the other Cyclones gathered around him and Sonic raced to the dugout. Sonic headed for the phone but found Wes Weasly on it already.  
  
"Wes! Emergen-" Wes put up a hand in Sonic's face.  
  
"Don't worry! I've got it covered, Palsy. Good thing I used to be in the used ambulance biz."  
  
A minute later, a medical team appeared on the scene and helped Bobby down into the Cyclones' locker room where they proceeded to examine him. The Sergeant gave them a 15-minute time out to sort out this new emergency, after which the game would resume.  
  
The doctor's initial diagnosis didn't look good. The good news: Bobby had only broken a couple of his fingers in his left hand and also a massive bruise that would completely heal in a couple of weeks. The bad news: Bobby pitches left-handed.  
  
"Bobby, you can't possibly-"  
  
"Sonic, I'm playing this game to the end."  
  
"But you can't pitch like that!"  
  
"Who said anything about me pitching again?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I can still catch and throw with my right hand. But I'm afraid you're right about me pitching. That's why we need you to."  
  
Sonic stumbled back, "M-ME? Pitch? Are you crazy?"  
  
"I can't now, and I've seen you throw balls, you've got what it takes to pitch."  
  
Sonic sighed, "That's what you said about me batting."  
  
"Okay. So I was wrong... but I know you can do this."  
  
Mad Mike stepped forward, "Sonic, me and Griz couldn't help but listenin' and uh..."  
  
Griz finished his brother's sentence, "We believe in youse."  
  
His other friends gathered around him as Hodgepodge slapped him on the back, "Yeah, all of us do."  
  
MacHopper smiled, "If you'll pitch 'em, I'll be honored to catch 'em, Mate."  
  
"All right! You convinced me," Sonic stood up, "But are you sure you're okay to play, Bobby?"  
  
"I'm fine! This accident is nothing," Bobby winced a little as the doctor finished wrapping up his hand and placed it in a temporary sling, "Thanks Doc."  
  
"I'm convinced it wasn't an accident. Guys, I don't care what Robotnik says, I know he's up to his usual tricks, so watch out for yourselves, alright?"  
  
They all nodded and headed back upstairs with only seconds left to get themselves ready.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 7 


	8. No, I meant the fuzzy pink rabbit with t...

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A/N: Finally! I have gotten another chapter up XD sorry for the long delay. Blame it on the schoolwork. Anyways, I'm taking a little liberty on skipping some baseball action (just for continuity's sake mind you) so bear with me XD... Oh and here comes an Earthbound reference for you old-time SNES gamers XD hehehe Enjoy everyone. (Note: The other title for this chapter is "Tails Strikes Back" XD hehehe)  
  
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CHAPTER 8: "No, I meant the fuzzy pink rabbit with the bow on its head."  
  
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Robotnik bashed yet another hole in the dugout wall. What was HE doing back on the field? The tubby dictator pulled out his binoculars and took a look at Bobby Bambino's hand. It was haphazardly bandaged up for the moment and hung at his side. The other arm, however, was functioning perfectly as Bobby practiced catching and throwing with just his right hand.   
  
"NUMBER 4!" Robotnik shouted, the baseball bot standing attention immediately, "This is all your fault, you minor-league misfit!" He snatched the bat from the bot's hand and whacked him over the head, "A little leaguer with a yo-yo could do more damage than you, YOU OVERGROWN OAF!"  
  
After Robotnik finished punishing his bot, he threw the bat down and stomped to the phone.   
  
"FINALLY!" Tails exclaimed. He had severed most of the ropes binding his wrists together. He gripped the closed handles of the shears and grunted, pulling his wrists apart until the bits of yellow nylon stretched past their limits and burst, fraying the ends. Tails let out a victory whoop and rubbed his sore wrists. His arm muscles ached and he had cut himself a few times before he got it right, but he had done it! He rested a second before reaching down and easily snipping through the ropes choking his ankles. Immediately he stretched out his legs and then leaped up into the air, twirling his tails and flying around. He stuffed the shears in his uniform pant's pocket. You never know when something like these could help out again, he concluded.   
  
He thought about messing up the office some more before he left, but he could still hear the restless crowds above him and knew he should find his teammates as soon as possible. Tails landed on the floor next to the door and unlocked it. The short fox carefully cracked the door open and peered both ways down the hall. No dorkbots.   
  
The door swung closed quietly behind him as he nimbly jogged down the hallway, trying not to make much noise. Tails had no idea where he was in the stadium, though he could hear the noise of the crowd coming from the direction he was heading.   
  
He ran past a door with a frosted window, but backed up when he heard a familiar clucking laugh, "BWAH-HA-HA-HA!" He skidded and scooted back to the door and put his sensitive ear up against it. Yep, it was the dumb duo alright. He decided to do some quick snooping while he had the chance and then run back to give his teammates the heads up.  
  
"Can we use this one? Huh Scratch?" Grounder tugged on his sleeve and waved around a contraption resembling a bazooka with a goo-filled tank attached at the back.  
  
"I told you! We're saving that one for last. The Multi-Mega-Muck-Missile Launcher will come in handy in case any of those Cyclones decide to slide home," Scratch snickered.  
  
"Yeah, but we're gonna make sure they never get that far, right?"  
  
"Right," Scratch agreed as he dragged another large invention out of the closet, "Let's see, we'd better not try the Quake Maker or the Robo-Route-Rooter again."  
  
"What's that?" Grounder pointed at the large invention that looked like a giant leaf-blower.  
  
"This," Scratch dragged it a few inches closer, "Is-"  
  
Grounder's belly rang and shook.   
  
Scratch frowned, "Oh great. Better see what he wants."  
  
Grounder nervously opened his stomach plate and pulled out a green receiver attached by a curly phone cord. He put it up to his ear. "Hello?"  
  
A series of curses made him pull it away from his face.  
  
Scratch rolled his eyes, "Sheesh, you'd think he'd come up with a few new ones every now and then."  
  
Grounder put it back to his ear, "What do you want us to do now, sir? We- Huh? Oh, the fox brat? Yeah, we put him in your office. He won't get away!"  
  
Tails couldn't help but giggle a little at that. Luckily, neither of the robots heard him.  
  
Robotnik grumbled a bit at the other end of the line, "For your sake he had better not. I want you two to have the T.O.O.T.E.R. ready behind home plate by the top of the fifth inning. Understand?   
  
Grounder sat brain-dead a moment until the acronym activated his memory chips, "Oh, do you mean The Obnoxiously Odorous Temporal Environment Restructurer?"  
  
"No, I meant the fuzzy pink rabbit with the bow on its head."  
  
"But we don't have a--"  
  
"IT'S CALLED SARCASM, YOU ILLITERATE IGNORAMUS!"  
  
"Oh... what's that one stand for?"  
  
Scratch yanked the phone from his brother's hand, "It's as good as done, Sir! Bye!" He stuffed the phone back in Grounder's compartment and slammed it shut. "Sheesh, how stupid can you get, Grounder?"  
  
"Why? Do I have a limit?"  
  
Scratch frowned, "Apparently not. C'mon," He grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the pile of inventions they had been sifting through, "We gotta find the T.O.O.T.E.R. and drag it upstairs."  
  
Tails backed away from the door. T.O.O.T.E.R. huh? Leave it up to Robotnik to come up with a lame name like that. All joking aside, though, he had to stop them before they hurt his team. Tails glanced around and ducked into a big rubber trash can as the bots propped open the locker room door and carried out the heavy machine. He heard them trip up the stairs and finally drag it screeching across a concrete floor. The trash can tumbled over and Tails scrambled after them.   
  
"STRRRRIKE THREE! You're out, Robot!" Sergeant Doberman hiked his thumb and as the robot beeped a curse and dragged his heavy metal bat back to the dugout.   
  
The uniformed hedgehog pulled off his cap and wiped the sweat off his brow. Finally. Three outs.  
  
Sonic hadn't been pitching that great. Sure he could throw the ball really fast, but it just wasn't working with MacHopper. Sonic didn't know any pitching signals and so had to go on his own instincts when pitching to one of the bots. Not that he knew a lot of pitches anyway. He had always figured it involved just throwing the ball. Oh, and did he forget to mention that he never wants to even see a baseball again?  
  
He walked back to the bench and sighed. He glared up at the gigantic number two on the board; he wished his stare could burn it off. He had let another runner get home. Sure he struck out three players and they were only two points behind, but it had been a no-hitter up until now, because now Buttnik was ahead. Great.  
  
What we could really use is some back up, Sonic thought. And luckily, someone was sneaking around just under his shoes.  
  
Scratch finally got the not-so-bright idea to use Grounder as a makeshift dolly and they finally got the device up into the corridor running behind home plate. Scratch shoved the massive machine off Grounder's back onto the ground and the two of them flopped down, exhausted.  
  
"Why are you so tired? I hauled it up here," Grounder poked Scratch with his drill hand.  
  
Scratch shoved him away, "No, YOU just carried it while I pushed you here, ya lazy bum!"  
  
"Oh yeah, STUPID!"  
  
"D'oh! Let's not start this again! Dr. Robotnik will cream us if we don't cream those Cyclones first." Scratch leapt to his feet and pushed a button on the wall.   
  
Tails, who was peeking his head ever so slightly around the corner, watched as a panel about half as tall as him opened and the loud roars of the crowd poured in with a blast of wind and some sunlight. Tails' nose wriggled. Mmmm! He could smell a chilidog vendor nearby. That smell changed when the bots flipped the switch on the machine.  
  
It took both robots to lift the hose up through the opening. Scratch then closed the panel partway to hold the hose into place as he reached down to flip the switch. They both waited for the machine to do something.  
  
"Wow, it's really quiet!" Grounder commented, "If I didn't know any better I wouldn't think it was on!"  
  
Scratch took off his baseball cap and whacked him on the head, "D'oh! It's not on, stupid!" He replaced the cap on his head and began to examine the T.O.O.T.E.R. Grounder poked it a few times, releasing a hidden compartment from which an edison plug tumbled out.  
  
"Uh-oh!"  
  
"What did you-hey! It's not plugged in!" Scratch reached down and yanked the cord out, shoving Grounder out of the way, "Move!" He started to turn toward Tails, who pulled back and hid as Scratch pulled out more cord and plugged it into a socket on the wall just around the corner from him. Grounder meanwhile was randomly pushing some buttons.  
  
"Stop it!" Scratch smacked him again, "You're gonna break it!"  
  
"Geez, I just wanted to help turn it on!"  
  
"You couldn't turn on a light switch."  
  
"Sure I could! There's one now!" Grounder wheeled over to the nearest one.  
  
"GROUNDER! STOP!"  
  
It was too late, he had switched off the lights. Tails crawled along the corner and unplugged the machine. He gave the cord a tug and like most vacuums, the cord retracted, whipping back and striking Scratch on the leg.  
  
"YEOWCH-A-DOODLE!" Scratch exclaimed as he blindly felt around on the wall for the switch, "That's it! You're gettin' it when the lights are back on!"  
  
"But I didn't do anything!" Grounder whined.  
  
The lights snapped on as Scratch finally found the switch and Tails dove back behind the corner. The bots were too busy dealing with each other to notice him.   
  
Coconut's voice blaring over the stadium speakers suddenly caught their attention before Scratch could put another big dent in his twin brother's forehead. "Ooh! Ooh! One out left for the cyclones! Get'm yeah!"  
  
"We gotta do it now!" Scratch dropped Grounder and flipped the switch. Nothing happened. He tried again.  
  
Grounder poked him.  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"It's unplugged," Grounder pointed to the empty wall socket.  
  
"You idiot! Why did you do that?!" Scratch opened the compartment and yanked out the cord again and plugged it in.   
  
"I didn't do it!"  
  
Scratch ignored his brother's plea and switched on the machine. This time it rumbled and started up, sending globs of gas through the big hose. The two bots peered through the opening, Grounder having to stand on the machine on the tip of his treads just to see. Both of them pushed and shoved to get the most space.   
  
Tails snuck up behind them and pulled the plug again, giving it a yank before releasing it and letting it whip back into its compartment again. The bots jumped at the noise as Tails dove back again.  
  
"What was that?!" Grounder exclaimed as the machine stopped.  
  
Scratch looked, "It's unplugged again! Stupid machine!" He angrily stomped back over and plugged it in the machine spewing out more fumes.  
  
Sonic, meanwhile, was having a hard time concentrating at bat. His nose couldn't hold back this reeking smell that was floating around homeplate. It smelled like... he didn't even want to think about it. Even his experiences in the sewers didn't compare to this stench. It was like 5-week old chilidogs that had been left in a hot car mixed with outhouses, and worst of all - Robotnik's breath. His eyes started to water as he coughed and waved frantically over to the dugout.  
  
"I think he needs a lil ol' time out!" Miss Possum cried, yelling over to Sergeant Doberman. The other Cyclones added similar replies.  
  
Srgt. Doberman blew his whistle and the Cyclones quieted down. "Two minute time-out for the Cyclones! You have one time-out remaining."  
  
Sonic coughed and stumbled back over to the dugout as his friends gathered around him. A few stepped back when they got closer.  
  
"Yo Sonic," Mad Mike held his nose, "Uh not ta be rude, but youse smell ... really, really bad." He tried to wave away the scent as his eyes watered.  
  
"It's not me, it's something behind homeplate! I can't concentrate on anything." He shook his head a little.  
  
"I smell one of dad's tricks," Junior said, glaring at the Androids dugout, "He's just trying to psych you out."  
  
"What should I do? I can't hit if I can't think straight."  
  
Breezie smiled, "I can fix that. Just wait right here, Sonic sweety." She disappeared into the dugout and Sonic tapped his foot. A few seconds later she reappeared with a serpentine glass bottle of perfume, "This is my favorite, favorite fragrance - Fresh Breeze." She squeezed the little rubber ball and squirted Sonic with a few quick bursts of it. He coughed and stumbled back a bit.  
  
He then took a few deep sniffs and sighed pleasantly, the bad smell fading into a distant memory. "Wow... that's... nice." He grinned.  
  
"Thank you," she smiled as she set the bottle on the bench.   
  
"Times up! PLAY BALL!" The sergeant blew his whistle.  
  
"Thanks Breezie!" He waved and ran back to the plate, "I just hope it's enough to beat that smell."  
  
Tails knew he couldn't keep up this shenanigans all day, he'd have to figure out some way to get them distracted so he could rewire the machine.... or maybe... He felt around in his pocket and pulled out the shears. Yeah, he could do a lot of damage with those!  
  
He watched the two blundering robots as they watched the game through the hole again. Then again, if he was really careful, he could sneak in and sabotage it right under their noses! It was risky, but he couldn't let them hurt Sonic and his other teammates. He tiptoed towards the machine and sat down, watching carefully as they snickered and laughed.  
  
"Look at the hedgehog, Scratch!"  
  
"I know, this's great!"  
  
Tails opened the back panel and flipped the off switch. He only had a few seconds to complete his job, so he snipped and clipped and rehooked the rest of the wires. He shut the panel and scrambled back around the corner.  
  
"Scratch, why isn't more coming out?"   
  
"I dunno, I'll check... Not again!" Scratch looked down and saw the switch was off. "D'oh! Grounder you tripped the switch! I'll get it!" Scratch reached down to flip the switch as Tails ducked and covered his head.  
  
An instant later the machine exploded.  
  
Sonic got hit by a bit of the wall as everything exploded and the machine parts spewed onto the area behind homeplate. He fell forward and curled into a ball to protect himself from the debris as his teammates rushed out. Loads of smoke poured out from the hole as the two robots crawled out through the opening, coughing and trying to wave off the smoke. Both were badly burnt.  
  
As the smoke died down inside, Tails realized this would be the perfect chance to escape. He revved up his tails and leaped into the air, rushing for the hole. Passing through the last bit of smoke, he suddenly realized the bots were blocking his way and instinctively curled into a ball, bashing through them and rolling out onto the dirt. He uncurled and skidded a couple feet, sliding into home base.  
  
"Hey, it's the SSSSS Squad!" MacHopper exclaimed, "The dirty rotten, cheaters!" Some of the Cyclones turned and glared at the robots.  
  
"Uh-oh! Let's get outta here!" The two robots stumbled towards the duggout.  
  
"And there's Tails!" Junior cried, rushing over to him. Breezie and Miss Possum followed him and helped thecoughing kit to his feet.  
  
Robotnik smacked himself in the forehead. Those blundering, bumbling, junkbuckets! Not only did they let that brat escape but they just obliterated the area behind home plate! What incompetence! He was going to have to think of a believable explanation or he'll have to cut his losses and run for it. "Just wait until until I curl my fingers around their throats."   
  
Sonic's ears had perked up at Tails's name and he instantly hopped up. He glanced around until he saw a familiar face grinning and waving.  
  
Before the kit could blink he was scooped up into a crushing hug by the uniformed hedgehog. "Tails!" Thank goodness! Sonic gave him a quick look-over, "You're not hurt, are you?"  
  
"No," Tails smiled. His best friend always worried too much about him. Sonic needs another vacation, Tails decided. "I'm fine. But you should see Scratch and Grounder!" He beamed with pride.  
  
"Was that you back there kickin' ro-butt?" Sonic gestured to the scorched bots who tumbled into the Androids dugout as Robotnik cursed and kicked them.  
  
Tails hugged Sonic tightly, "Yep."   
  
"Go Tails!" Sonic laughed and ruffled his hair as the kit nuzzled into his jersey, "Hey what happened to ya, Keed? We were worried sick." Miss Possum coughed. "Okay, I was worried sick."   
  
Tails smiled. He lifted his head and looked up into the hedgehog's smiling face. "Well, when I fell down the hole, the dumb-bots grabbed me. They're the ones who made that earthquake, Sonic! And they've been using more machines to cheat!"  
  
"Oh they have, have they?" Sonic glared over at the bots. He should have known all those weird events were connected to those two. "I think Srgt. Doberman will have somethin to say about that. C'mon guys." Sonic set Tails down and held onto his hand as they walked over to the tall dog who was examining the freshly exploded wall. Now that he had proof, Sonic was certain there was no way Robotnik could worm his way out of it. He'd be disqualified and then they could all go home. That and Sonic was overdue for a nap.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 8 


	9. I call that my Sonic Boom Ball!

A/N: Yay! New chapter. Sorry for the long wait! Blame it on the evil college papers... shakes fist angrily I'm hoping to wrap this one up soon - may not be totally writing out all those innings after all XD I discovered that they do it that way for a reason... and who am I to try and break it? XD hehehe Enjoy.

CHAPTER 9: "I call that my Sonic Boom Ball"  
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Robotnik spotted the Cyclones heading for Srgt. Doberman. Curses! What could he do now? There wasn't enough time to make a run for it, and that stupid brat blew up most of the...

Robotnik's evil genius had once again proven itself useful. He stumbled out of the dugout and hobbled as fast as he could go to the canine referee who was inspecting the smoldering cavity.

"Yo Sergeant! We've got proof that Robotnik's been cheating! He's been using his machines to mess up the game."

"Proof? Ha!" Robotnik panted as he arrived beside the Sergeant. "The only proof that I see is that YOUR sidekick, Sonic, is a destructive delinquent."

Tails growled and lunged at him but Sonic was able to hold him back, "Well YOU kidnapped me, you dirty cheater!"

Robotnik kept his cool and calmly replied, "Impossible. I have been in my dugout the entire time. Isn't that right Sergeant?"

"Hmmm..." The gruff dog rubbed his chin as he considered all the arguments. "Yes... Do you have any proof that these machines existed, private?"

Tails glanced into the hole and saw the machine was no more than a few burnt scraps, "Not anymore..."

The dog straightened up and poked Tails in the chest, "Then I'm giving you a warning. Next time your team is disqualified."

"WHAT?" Tails shouted.

Sonic bit his lip. So much for that. "Thank you, Sergeant," he managed as gently pulled Tails back to the dugout.

"The game will resume in 5 minutes!" The dog blew his whistle as the teams headed back.

"Sonic!" Tails tugged on his arm, "Aren't you going to do something?"

"I can't fight the ref, Tails. What he says, goes."

"But it's not fair!"

"I know, Keed, but that's how you play the game."

Tails sighed and kicked his foot hard in the dirt.

"Hey!" Sonic put a hand on his shoulder, "Save your power for the plate, okay?" Sonic pointed up at the board, "Old Buttnik may be ahead by two points, but we've still got lots of game time left."

The problem wasn't that he didn't see it coming. Bobby saw the baseball coming - he was batting after all, but he didn't move quickly enough due to his earlier arm injury. He was able to shield his face but the baseball pummulted his arm. "Not again," he winced, falling to his knees. This really wasn't his day.

"BALL FOUR!"

Bobby fell over and the Sergeant blew his whistle.

Sonic slapped his forehead. This was too much. Bobby had been targeted yet again. It was obvious looking at the playback that the pitcher had his sights set on giving Bobby one permanent headache that he wouldn't wake up from.

Once again, the team found themselves gathered in the locker room.

"I can't give up. We have to rescue my teammates! We can't just forfeit!" Bobby sighed as he surrendered his arm to be wrapped up and taken care of by the ambulance technician.

"It won't matter if you break your whole body! You'll never be able to play again," Sonic replied, "You're too tempting a target for Robotnik and his robot goons."

Bobby sighed. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt maybe he out to sit out too. The last thing he wanted was to put everyone else in danger.

"You're right. I'm endangering the team."

"We'll forfeit if we have to. I'll find some way to save them." Sonic promised. "What's important is we gave it our best shot."

"Don't give up just yet, Palsy." Wes leaned on the locker, "You're forgetting about me."

"Why? You in the used-teammate business too?" Sonic chuckled.

"No," Wes smirked, "But you are looking at two-time little league home run champion."

"No way!"

Wes pulled a picture out of his pocket, "How else do you think I got hooked up in this business? You have to start out small to think big, Sonic."

"Well I'll be..." Sonic took the photo. It was a child version of everyone's most feared salesman in a cute little league uniform, a sucker end sticking out of his mouth. "Wesley Weasly" the card read, "Big Bucks Bank V.I.P. 3204"

Wes took it back, "I'll be your short-stop. For a nominal fee of course..."

"WEASLY!" Everyone blurted angrily. His hat blew off.

"Yeesh," he replaced his ball cap, "Can't you people take a joke?"

"Alright," Sonic clapped and everyone turned toward him again, "Let's--"

"Ahem."

Sonic turned and saw Tails standing tall behind him. Tails looked like he had something important to say, and after almost losing him earlier, Sonic wanted to hear what it was, "Yeah Tails?"

"Sonic, since you're the pitcher now, do you think I could be your catcher?"

Sonic sighed a little.

Tails's ears drooped. He should have known better than to ask that. Sonic would never in a million-

"Sure keed." Sonic patted his back, "Mac, you wanna fill in for short stop then?"

"Would be glad to, mate." He winked down at Tails.

"YAHOO!" Tails shot up into the air and hugged him. "Thank you! I promise, I won't let one get by me!"

"Wes, your our designated hitter."

"My coach didn't give me that award for nothing, Palsy." Wes looked down at Sonic. "You can count on me too."

Sonic smiled. "Alright guys, let's play ball!"

The inning continued, but not as good as they hoped. No more runs. Sonic told them not to worry. They'd be ready come the next inning. Everyone wasn't so sure though.

Tails slid down his catcher mask as the massive robot stepped up to the plate. He sweated a little. He hoped he would do a good job. Catcher had sounded easier when it slid out of his mouth. He held up his glove as he squatted down, making the mammoth machine seem even more massive. Tails tried not to stare and instead looked at Sonic, standing in a relaxed position as he squeezed the life out of the tiny bag and chalked up his gloves. He noticed Tails gaze and smirked, as if he was trying to say, "Don't sweat it, Keed, this game's in the bag."

Tails smiled through his mask and gave him a signal. He twirled his pinky. Spiral Spiceball?

Sonic shook his head. Not quite.

Tails put down three fingers, then two, then just one. Out to Launch ball?

Sonic nodded, winking.

Tails put his hand behind his glove as the robot swung back his bat and wiggled his robotic tush, eyes glaring ahead.

Sonic reared back, winding up his arm faster than anyone could see. He grunted as he stepped forward and released it.

Tails's eyes went wide as the ball flew at him.

The bot's bat wooshed as it rushed over his head.

Tails stumbled back as the ball hit his glove. He clasped his hand around it. GOT IT! He got it!

"STTTTTTTRRRIIIIIKE ONE!" Sonic and Tails both cheered.

Sonic grinned and gave Tails a thumbs up, "Great catch, bro."

The cyclones cheered even louder and the crowds above stomped their feet.

It wasn't long before Tails really got comfortable with catching. The adrenaline pumped into him again, energizing him and making him yearn for more tension. Having Sonic there really helped too. He could do anything with Sonic there.

Sonic was so relieved. Having Tails catch was just what he needed to take the stress off. He spent less time worrying and more time trying out new things. Tails always managed to keep up, and occasionally come up with a new pitch he hadn't thought of.

The two of them were connected by an invisible cord - one that even Robotnik couldn't duplicate with his technology. They were practically reading each other's thoughts. A slight change in expression communicated an entire idea. Tails laughed as Sonic threw an inside joke his way. It kept both of them loose and not so jumpy.

Sonic arched his eyebrows, seeming to say, "Check this!"

A fraction of a second later Tails felt the ball in his glove. Holy cow! That was the fastest fast ball Tails had ever seen, or well not seen - it was that fast!

A boom echoed in the air a half-second afterward.

"I call that my Sonic Boom Ball!" Sonic called, holding up his classic two-fingered pose and flashing a cheesy smile in Robotnik's direction. Robotnik scowled.

"SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM!" The crowd began to cheer.

Sonic egged the crowd on, gesturing that he couldn't hear them. "SONIC BOOM!" They screamed, pounding the ground with their feet. Tails chuckled. Sonic always loved being in the spotlight. He really knew how to work the crowd too. Tails tossed back the ball. Just one more strike and it was their turn to bat again.

The bot stood tall and pulled back as Sonic began to swing. The ball curved in the air, spiraling wildly towards Tails. The bot swung and he caught it.

A shut-out inning! Wow! Tails carried the ball out to Sonic. Sonic picked him up and the crowd erupted into cheering.

"You ready to bat little bro? It's your turn again." Sonic pointed up to the board as Tails' name lit up on the board. Fifth Inning. Over halfway done. Sonic was happy they had made it this far. He had a good feeling about the rest of the game.

Tails nodded. On this kind of emotional high, anything was possible.

The tiny kit squatted even further down, making his strike zone disappear. He clung to the bat as the bot reared back. Tails watched carefully as the ball hurled at him. He swung.

CRACK! Up! Up! The ball shot forwards the arc going and going and showing no sign of slowing. Tails was so amazed at his hit that he almost forgot to run.

"TAAAAAAILS!" Sonic's voice screamed, "GO!"

Tails sprinted to first base, but watched the ball out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, I do declare..." Miss Possum breathed as the ball finally arched and started to fall.

It was gonna! It was gonna!

Tails tripped over the first base. He couldn't believe it.

It fell just short.

He almost had a home run.

"GO FOR SECOND, BRO!"

Tails no longer hesitated as the robots ricocheted the ball around towards 2nd Base. Tails dodged as the ball came zooming at his head and he continued running. It was like he was a shooting gallery duck. He flew into the air and missed another. Finally he tagged the base, panting heavily, his ears folded back.

"SAFE!"

"Thank Mobius. Those fellers are ruthless," Miss Possum said as she sat back down on the bench.

"Tails and me have seen worse," Sonic stoicly replied, though he was secretly relieved as well.

Tails stood up. He almost did it. He was inches from a home run. Inches. Next time he could do it. He knew it.

Junior Robotnik was up next. Breezy whistled for him and blew a kiss his way. "Show those goons how a real bot hits! She clenched her fists as he stepped up to plate. Those goons were snickering at him again. Even so, Junior ignored them. Breezy couldn't. If this wasn't a fair game, she'd want to use her lasers on them. Sure Junior wasn't the slim or buff type, but he was still a powerful robot and had more brain-power than the whole robot team put together. Breezy grinned, it was ironic that the only bots Robotnik could get to obey him were the stupid ones.

WHOOSH! SMACK! The ball rolled along the fresh-cut grass as the bots dived for it. One barely missed, extending its arm out as it rolled. The hand crawled after the ball as it rolled to a stop.

Junior made it to first and Tails made it to third as the ball went back to the pitcher.

Big Griz stepped up next. He was just the kind of powerhouse they needed to get them all home. When he hit the ball high up though, an extended-legged bot caught it right before it hit the back wall of the stadium, sending him back to the duggout. He shrugged and his brother patted him on the back.

"You done a good job, Griz."

"Da, thanks Mike. Good uh... luck Miss Possum." He handed her bat up to her.

"Thank you, Griz, but I don't need luck. This takes skill."

"You definitely got that," Sonic commented.

"Hmm?" She turned to him.

"Oh, good skills then."

"Good skills?"

"Er... yeah."

"I like that. Thank you, Sonic."

He smiled as she turned and headed up to the plate.

"Real smooth there, partner." Hodge Podge elbowed him.

Sonic smirked.

Two swings later his jaw dropped. Miss Possum whacked herself a home run, bringing not only herself, but Tails and Junior in for three points, putting the Cyclones ahead by one!

The stadium was alive. The very foundations shook as the roar of the crowd echoed out, making even the giant robots guarding the exits vibrate from their noise.

Coconuts jumped around as ceiling tiles fell around him. He grabbed the mic, "HEY! HEY! HEY! PIPE DOWN!"

The crowd around him hushed a little, but they were quiet only long enough to throw lead pipes at him, one being a thick green one. The glass shattered as the roar increased.

"CYCLONES! CYCLONES!"

Coconuts pushed himself up through the pile of pipes. One was dented into his head. He ripped it off and sighed. "This is not my day..."

Unfortunately the home run made the Cyclones just a little cocky. Can you blame them? They weren't able to score any more runs that inning. Everyone was happy though. They were ahead! Winning! At last.

At least for now.

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. That duo of DugOut Dunces? Never!

-  
A/N: Yay! I'm really cooking on this again. It's been (sadly) my new year's resolution the past few years to finish this. I think I will! )  
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CHAPTER 10: "That duo of Dug-Out Dunces? Never"  
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This inning Sonic and Tails were ready for any Androids antics. They had only begun to pitch!

And unfortunately for Buttnik, the outfielders were ready too. Griz, Mike and Hodge Podge fielded balls faster and got them infield quicker than Buttnik's bots could make it to the bases.

Part of this was because they were being way too reckless. Robotnik was obviously getting desperate because every other runner on base kept trying to steal another base. One particular incident included an unlucky bot who decided to slide into second. Tails's throw dented its head so bad that it deactivated and had to be taken out of the game.

"Oops?" Tails smiled sheepishly and Sonic cracked up.

Not for long though.

"Penalty for the Cyclones!"

According to Mobius Baseball League rules (which the Sergeant had practically memorized), Tails had to sit out for the remainder of the inning in a special caged bench beside the dugout. Tails tried not to yell at Sergeant Doberman, remembering Sonic's words, but it was obvious that he was frustrated. He huffed and plopped on the bench, tossing his hat down in the dirt. Sonic was miffed, but he didn't complain audibly. It's not like Tails was trying "purposefully" to hurt the robot. It was just ticking them off that they were constantly trying to steal the bases. With a sigh he had MacHopper come back to catch and let Weasly come on and play Short Stop.

The second accident wasn't entirely their fault, however, though they did help it along a little.

Okay, well Sonic caused it, but the Android started it!

Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic spotted one of the bots trying to steal second for the 42nd time that inning. He bent over and the crowds shouted at him to look at the player. Sonic quickly threw to Junior at second base, who caught it and leaned toward the runner. That's when the runner decided to play a little dirty. He leapt into the air and soared over Junior's head. One extended robotic hand slapped the base and retracted as Junior turned and tried to tag it. The bot hit his booster rockets and continued on.

The crowd booed and hissed, throwing food and drink items at the Android's dugout.

"HEY!" Junior ran under him and reached up the ball towards its chest, extending his legs to propell him taller.

Sonic ran towards him and took the ball from Junior. Sonic didn't bother looking towards the Sergeant, who couldn't seem to determine whether or not this was cheating. Ha.

Sonic leapt in the air to tag the bot but the bot blasted him back with a blast of steam from its wrist. Sonic nearly ran into Junior who was stumbling from having to extend so quickly.

The stadium vibrated with the low growlings of the crowd and some choice insults from the stands.

With a literal hand from Junior Sonic managed to zipped next to the base as the bot landed and tripped it, making it take a nosedive onto the grass. Its neck squished as the head rammed into the torso, shorting out the robot. Sonic smashed the ball onto it's back, making a nice meteoric dent. "Tag. You're out, cheater."

The previous booing was suddenly overshadowing by more erupting cheers, everyone stomping their feet and chanting the ever-popular, "SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM!"

Sergeant Doberman blew his whistle and signaled that it was an out, but also blew his whistle on Sonic.

Bobby immediately volunteered to come back on the field, but Sonic wouldn't let him pitch. He told Bobby to take Weasley's spot and Weasley would pitch. They agreed as Sergeant Doberman led Sonic to the Penalty Cage, much to the dismay of the rambuncious crowd.

Now there were two heroes sitting in a cage beside the dugout. Tails greeted Sonic with a high five and a hug. Sonic quietly made a couple snide remarks about the bots that made Tails giggle. They wouldn't be there for too much longer and as always, it was nice to have the other close by for company.

Robotnik meanwhile, stomped back and forth across his dugout. He was now two players short. And he was too far from his crashed blimp to create more players - not that he had the resources anyway. Eleven had been strain enough on the machine.

"Sir, we need two more players."

Robotnik turned and looked up at the giant Robot number 9. "What's it to you, Nine?"

"If we do not have nine, we forfeit."

"I KNOW THAT, YOU INJUDICIOUS JOCK! BUT THERE AREN'T ANY MORE OF YOU, YOU STUPID SPORTSFREAK!"

"But you have two other robots, sir. They should play."

Robotnik tilted his head, "You mean Scratch and Grounder? Them?" He pointed to them. "Play?"

The bot nodded.

"That duo of Dug-Out Dunces? NEVER!" Robotnik felt like pulling the bot's brain out and bashing him on the head with it. Lucky for the bot, Robotnik still needed him, otherwise he might have. "You Minor League Moron! I'm trying to WIN this game, not LOSE IT!"

"Did you call our names, sir?" Scratch asked.

Robotnik turned to find his two S.S.S.S.S. Squad members wearing... cheerleading outfits? Yes, cheerleading outfits in the same red and black as their former uniforms only now with skirts and pom-poms.

"Want to hear our new cheer?" Grounder asked. "C'mon Scratch! Let's do it for him!"

Robotnik was beyond stunned.

Honestly now folks, what did he do to deserve this?

"Yeah, the crowd's gonna love this!" Scratch helped Grounder on top of the dugout and pulled himself up as well. "We'll have them cheering for US for a change!"

Robotnik slapped his forehead and hid in the dugout. Maybe if he was lucky they would be struck by some freak lightning bolt.

They scrambled up and arranged themselves. The crowd fell silent. What the heck was this? The two bots raised up their pom-poms and began their cheer:

ANDROIDS ARE THE BEST!  
ANDROIDS ARE THE BEST!  
BWAH HA-HA-HA-HA!  
ANDROIDS ARE THE BEST!

They pointed down towards the bots who popped up with letters as Grounder wiggled his poms and chanted "O-G-S-T-E-L! OGSTEL! OGSTEL!" The "O" card had a cute yellow smiley face printed on it.

Scratch bopped him on the head with his pom-pom. "YOU IDIOT! YOU MIXED UP THE CARDS!"

Grounder turned at looked at the bots. "Huh?"

"It's LETS GO! Not OGSTEL!"

"Ha! I got it backwards!"

"DOH! Your brain is backwards."

Thus disenchanted, the crowd began to rile back up again and threw more things at the cheerleaders. They ducked.

"GET BACK IN HERE YOU BIONIC BIMBOS!" Robotnik's roar shook the dugout roof and they stumbled down onto the field, knocking over the bots still holding up the letters, leaving one standing with the "O".

A gruff look from Sergeant Doberman caused Robotnik to suddenly pipe down and sweat profusely.

"Well Tubby, you got any more players?"

"Me? Players? Why of course I do!"

"You got five minutes or your team forfeits..."

Robotnik's eyes widened. Of all the ... As much as he wanted to slug the ref and escape with the players, he knew that his blimp would require serious repair and he had not the time to do it, especially if the police were to arrive. That would certainly spell doom for him. And like he would allow those three incompetent robots to handle such a job. Such as it was, he would have to put Scratch and Grounder in the game. He could think of a few positions where they wouldn't cause so much trouble.

What was he thinking?

"SCRATCH! GROUNDER! GET OVER HERE AND PUT ON SOME REAL UNIFORMS!"

Needless to say, Scratch and Grounder have always been big fans of most televised sports and to tell them that they were going to play in a world series against the stupid hedgehog, well, let's just say their boisterous cheering and hugging should say it better than I can.

"WE'RE GONNA PLA-AY! WE'RE GONNA PLA-AY!" They linked arms and frolicked about the Android dugout.

It was then that Robotnik first felt a twinge of regret. Being a surpreme genius he wrote it off as those egg burritos he hungrily gulped down in the 3rd inning.

Robotnik let out a rather vulgar cheer though when Grounder managed to bunt a ball from MacHopper and roll into 1st base a second before he was tagged with the ball. If they could get him home it would be a tie game and he'd be one step closer to a humiliating defeat for the hedgehog.

What a brilliant idea it was to let Scratch and Grounder play!

Grounder cheered happily for Scratch as he stepped up to the plate. Scratch flashed at cheesy smile at his little brother and suddenly glared forward at Wes Weasley.

Weasley smirked and began his sales pitch, "You know Ratchet, is it?"

"SCRATCH!"

"Whatever, I could sell you some good parts real cheap, only resused once by the--"

"WEASLEY!" Both Robotnik and the Cyclones yelled.

"Hmm.. do they come with a warranty?" Scratch asked cautiously.

"WHY DON'T YOU STOP PITCHING SALES AND PITCH A BALL YOU OVERPRICED ODDBALL!"

"Yeesh, everyone's a critic. See me after the game, alright?" He left the negotiation at that and wound up and threw the ball.

Unfortunately Scratch was imagining himself with all those "new" parts and thinking of how strong and powerful he could be and how he would simply flick Sonic away, giving him the confidence to knock the ball far back into the stadium.

Robotnik tumbled out of the dugout and squeezed himself through the rails, gawking at the ball as it soared toward the corner of right field.

Coconuts was up on his feet immediately for the play by play, "WOWIE-ZOWIE would you look at that pop fly! It's heading toward the foul post! The outfielders are closing in! It's going going, GONE!" The ball clanged into the pole and dropped towards the ground, Griz and Mike scrambling for it as it bumped the pole a few more times on it's way down.

"THE WRONG WAY!" Coconuts sank a little but then stood up, "Wait a minute! Grounder's goin for a steal! There he goes down the baseline! He's just hit second!"

Sonic gripped the cage and shook it, screaming, "MIKE! GRIZ!"

They looked back and unfortunately the ball bopped one in the head and then the other, knocking them over. Sonic slapped his forehead as HodgePodge zoomed to the rescue, chasing the ball as it rolled.

Scratch was too busy cheering for Grounder to run and forgot that he should to, somewhat freaked out that he actually made it out there and that the Cyclones finally slipped up for once. Robotnik hobbled out and smashed a folding chair over his head and ordered him to start running as well. Scratch wanted to retort, but one look from Robotnik's face told him that might mean more than a chair to the head. Needless to say he took off for first.

HodgePodge fumbled the ball a little in the nervous tension and threw it to Breezie at second. She eyed Junior and lauched it at him full speed as Grounder shot past him for home. Junior growled and extended his arm a little as he caught her powerful throw, giving it a little snap as he flung it to MacHopper at home, Grounder creating a dust devil from the ferocity of his slide to home. Everyone hung on the cloud, growing silent, waiting for that call. Safe? Out? Please let it be out.

A whining shrill from the speaker broke the ceremonial-like silence.

"OH YEAH! The Androids are kickin' booty now, folks!" Coconuts did a pre-victory dance, shaking his booty at the window tauntingly at the crowd. One cameraman captured the video on the big screen just beside the stadium board.

"Better hang onto your seats losers while you still can! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!" Coconuts laughed loudly, booming the speakers.

Suddenly the crowd surrounding the annoucer booth reared up and threw some more folding chairs at his window, shattering it.

"This is not my day," Coconuts replied as the angry fans mobbed and climbed into the window. After a brief dustcloud style battle, they tossed him down to the dugout cheering wildly as the dust began to settle from home plate.

"SAFE!"

Grounder sighed with relief, he had just barely made it before the ball had and was hugging the base with his drills tightly. He released and stood up to get some cheers from the crowd. You can't blame him for being that stupid.

The stadium shook with a resounding boo from the crowd until Robotnik picked up his spare blimp mike from the bench and silenced them with his thundering yell for silence, which nearly shorted the blimp's already damaged speakers.

"Any more booing out of you and I'll let me Giant Robots use you for target practice! You either cheer for my team or you PERISH. As always, it's your choice."

That left the crowd speechless as the Giant robots loomed threatenly over them, pointing their massive lasers, causing the crowds to huddle together for protection.

"NOW WHERE'S MY CHEERING!" Robotnik screeched.

A few utterly disgusting and pathetic cheers rose up and a light golf-clapping followed them.

"That's more like it," Robotnik politely replied and slammed back his blimp mike on the dugout bench.

This was about the same time Coconuts finally hit the roof and rolled off down into the dugout. Robotnik whirled and picked up the dented monkey bot from the ground by his tail.

"And just what were you doing messing around with the announcing system? Did I order you to do that!"

"No-o-o-o s-s-s-ir," he whimpered, covering his face with his hands.

"You're just lucky I'm so happy right now or I'd punish you." He let him fall down.

"Oh thank you sir! I won't let you down!"

"You've already done that. However," Robotnik turned and glanced at the penalty cage, "I have a small job for you."

Tails sniffled a little, "What are we gonna do Sonic? They're REALLY good!"

Sonic turned from the bars and set back down beside him, "You listen to me, that was only beginner's luck, alright? They can't keep that up."

Tails sighed. Sonic always knew what to say to make him feel better. He leaned against him and Sonic put an arm around him.

"Don't let them intimidate you either, okay Keed? Under those uniforms they're still the same stupid-bots we beat the tar out of every week." Sonic yawned suddenly.

Tails did as well and his eye lids slowly closed as his subconscious talked himself into napping lightly on Sonic until he was free to go.

Sonic looked down at Tails and wondered what made him so sleepy all the sudden. Then again, he was feeling lightheaded and dizzy himself. Maybe he just needed to stand up and stretch. Sonic started to do so but caught a brief glimpse of Coconuts snapping a large padlock on their door as everything went black and he hit the dirt floor unconscious.

END OF CHAPTER 10

A/N: Uh-oh, looks like someone's getting tired of following the rules! The game is tied, but it's not over yet! Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter! The big surprise of the game is coming up soon. :)

(Yes this gag had been intended before the scene portrayed in Sonic's Christmas Blast, thank you.) 


	11. You'll be playing by MY rules now

_A/N: Stay tuned for a huge author note at the end. In the meantime, enjoy everybody! I hope it was worth the long wait!_

* * *

**CHAPTER 11: "You'll be playing by MY rules now."**

Sergeant Doberman was about to reprimand the monkey bot for going near the penalty cage when he also felt very sleepy. He also realized he had a massive headache and was quite confused to discover that he was suddenly nuzzling the dirt with his nose. He blacked out before the could contemplate this awkward situation.

The Cyclones were shocked at these events and started running back towards the infield. A line of laser fire slicing into the grass a few feet from second base caused them to back off.

"You'll be very pleased to know, you goody-two-shoes, that this game is nearly over," Robotnik announced as he stepped out with the microphone in his hand.

Not surprisingly, the freedom fighters shouted back some rather harsh things at him all at once which caused him to order Grounder to shoot over their heads to quiet them down.

"Take another step closer and you'll never see your favorite heroes again."

"What did you do to them Eggbelly!" Miss Possum shouted.

"If you dun anything bad to 'em, we'll tear ya limb from limb," Hodgepodge added, cracking his knuckles and looking for an opportunity to charge for the penalty box.

Robotnik laughed loudly. "You'll be playing by MY rules now."

"What rules?" Junior shouted.

"First, you will not damage any more of my robots. Anything you do to them, I will do to Sonic and Tails tenfold. Second, Scratch and Grounder have planted mines underneathe the field and I'm activating them now, so if I were you, I would watch your step." He held up a remote and clicked a button. All around the field small blinking sensors rose out of the ground, a few of the cyclones dodging the sensors as they came up nearly under their own feet. They were nearly as plentiful as flowers in a field.

"And finally, I will release one hero for every home run scored by my team, so please pitch wisely."

"What if we don't like your rules?" Breezie shouted.

"You will either follow them, or it's going to get HOT in the penalty box," Robotnik cackled as he waved one of the giant robots to stand near the box, pointing it's laser down at the unconscious heroes.

The Cyclones quickly huddled. Questions echoed from everyone. What can we do? Should we try to rescue them? What about the land mines? Is there enough time to order out for Chinese - oh wait, that one was Wes Weasely's suggestion. He shut up as soon as everyone glared at him.

"Hang on everyone," Junior said, "I say we play along for now, if we can get Sonic and Tails back, there's no way we can lose, no matter how many runs they get."

"Hold on, I ain't throwin' no runs to da bad guys," Mad Mike said.

"We don't have much choice," Breezie sighed, looking worriedly over at the penalty box, "He'll hurt them..."

"Not if we can rescue them first," Miss Possum countered. "Besides, you really think that sneaky sidewinder is really going to keep his word? He's just playin around with us! He has been for the whole game."

"Dah, I agree with Miss Possum. I don't care if I get hurt, I just wanna help Sonic," Big Griz said.

Everyone was quiet again for a moment, each team member thinking carefully.

MacHopper spoke up next. "Well, I might have an idea on how we can snatch Sonic an' Tails right out from under his nose." All eyes turned to him as he continued, "But we'll need to distract him. I think givin him runs is the only way."

"Leave that to the ladies, boys," Breezie said, smiling at Miss Possum, "We'll keep him distracted."

"Alright!" Junior called out to him. "We'll play by your rules!"

"Excellent!" Robotnik clapped.

"For now," Junior added quietly, all of the Cyclones nodding to him.

* * *

Miss Possum let out a sigh as she threw a gentle pitch to Bot #4 batting at the plate. The graceful curve gave the bot the perfect amount of time to calculate the perfect hit, the ball practically singing as it zipped through the air and across the field. The audience watched in horror as it fall just beyond Griz's reach, bouncing on the soft grasses just under the score board.

"Nice pitch," Breezie called to her. Miss Possum gave her half a smile. She hoped this would be enough to buy the boys some time.

Meanwhile, fireworks launched into the air over the dejected crowd, a few of the children crying in the stands. No one dared utter another boo with the sentinal bots blocking the exits.

Scratch and Grounder hugged each other and danced, getting run over by Number 4 as he ran for home plate.

"Oh! I forgot we actually have to go!" Scratch said, "C'mon Grounder!"

"This is so exciting! I've never won anything before!"

"Me either! Bwah-HA-ha-HA! I love baseball!"

"Bet you I can get there first!"

"Oh yeah? Bet you I can beat you!"

They pushed and shoved each other all the way past home plate.

"WOO-HOO! Excellent job boys!" Robotnik smirked, "I can't believe they actually did something well! Perhaps I should have my own baseball team! No, even better, I'll create my own sporting event! I shall call it, Eggball! Yes! How brilliant of me! How poetic!"

Robotnik continued to cheer for himself from the Androids dugout, greedily gulping down a fifth egg burrito that he had forced the stadium cooks to prepare for him. Scratch and Grounder had both not only scored, tying the game, but now the hedgehog's foolish friends were actually throwing the game! He should have used Tails for that earlier on, he decided as he chugged down diet iced tea from his giant 120oz mug (emblazoned with "I HATE HEDGEHOGS!").

Robotnik watched in anticipation as his next bot stepped up to the plate. The next pitch came much in the same manner, allowing another perfect home run. His eyes grew even wider as the next bot stepped up as well. Another perfect pitch! This one was hit so hard it buried itself into the scoreboard, sparks buzzing from it.

Robotnik cackled to himself. Finally the game had turned in his favor, and there was nothing the hedgehog could do about it. Quickly stealing a look to the penalty box he grinned.

Sonic was still dozing off, blissfully unaware of how his world was crumbling beneath his feet. Robotnik grinned.

* * *

Sonic sniffed deeply, and then sneezed, having taken in a bit dust with his breath of air. His vision was blurry, but he was beginning to make out dark shadows as he sluggishly pushed himself onto his elbows. He shook his head. He looked up towards the penalty bench, reaching for it and then resting his head against its chilled surface, moaning softly. What hit me? His head pounded. His hands grasped the chain linked fence, scents of the field filling his nose. The baseball field. He was at the Mobian World Series... and Robotnik!

The loud disapproval of the crowds booing and stomping their feet scared him into immediate attention. He gazed around and slowly his memory leaked in pieces that fit together. Yeah, the baseball game. What inning was it? A glance at the huge video scoreboard told him what he didn't want to see, lit up in bright lights for the world to see:

CYCLONES 6

ANDROIDS 11

Sonic hurried to the bars and tried to break out of the penalty box, grabbing the cage, but noticing the large lock and chains keeping him in. He tested the ground under his foot. He leaned down and brushed away the thin layer of dirt revealing a layer of triple-thick concrete. Seems Robotnik was prepared for this too.

"Sonic, over here!"

He turned around. Standing at the other end of the duggout was MacHopper. He got up and scrambled towards him, keeping his voice low.

"MacHopper, what's going on?"

"It's the bottom of the eighth inning!"

"What!" Sonic nearly jumped out of his uniform.

"Shhh! Don't worry mate, I'm here to break you out - the girls are keeping him distracted. Better wake up Tails."

Sonic had nearly forgotten about his friend. He looked down and was relieved to see Tails was still in here, but he was unconscious on the floor. He must have fallen off the bench too.

"Keed?" He immediately knelt down beside him, checking his vitals. One of the little fox's ears twitched at his nickname and Sonic sighed, hearing from the sounds of his breathing that he was just asleep. He gently shook his shoulders, calling his name.

Sonic sighed in relief when he saw his friend open his eyes and gaze groggily in his direction. Thank goodness he was okay.

"Wha- what's going on, Sonic?"

Sonic scooped him up and set him upright on the bench, brushing the dust off him as best he could. "It's about time for us to bust outta here, that's what!"

Tails yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I like baseball and everything, but I'm gettin awful sick of this game, Sonic. Feels like it's been going on for years or something..."

"You and me both, kiddo." He turned to MacHopper, "So how about that escape plan, Mac?"

"You won't believe this, but Wes lent me this," he pulled out a very dangerous, sharp-looking weapon that vaguely resembled some kind of swiss-army knife contraption. Tails gulped a little.

"I believe it. I'm just surprised he didn't use it on us first."

"No, but he has been driving us bonkers since ya left, mate."

"Now that doesn't surprise me."

* * *

"Not so strong without your hedgehog to hide behind, are you?"

"We gave you more than the runs that you wanted, now let them go!" Breezie said as she stepped towards the dugout, throwing down her catcher's mitt. She was drawing quite an attention from the crowd. Miss Possum was parading on top of the Cyclones dugout with a bunch of signs for the audience to shout out. Altogether the stadium made quite the argument - not even Robotnik's bots scared them anymore - it was almost the ninth inning and everyone just wanted to go home now more than anything else. Most of all they wanted to see Robotnik's butt get kicked. You couldn't blame them.

"LET THEM GO! LET THEM GO!"

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU! THIS IS MY GAME, DO YOU HEAR ME? MY GAME! AND I'M GOING TO WIN IT!"

"Geez Buttnik, do you always have to shout like that?"

Robotnik froze and then whipped around to find Sonic chewing bubblegum and sitting at the end of the row with his robot players. His feet were propped up on top of the railing and he grinned at him, blowing a large bubble, popping it and chewing some more.

"Gum?" He offered.

"YOU!"

"No thanks, I already have some. It's pretty good for stadium candy."

"HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?"

He wandered towards him and leaned on the duggout railing, keeping his voice low, just between them. "C'mon now. You really oughta know that I'm always gonna escape. And seriously, quit with the caps, it's hard for everybody at home to read."

Robotnik stepped cautiously toward him, picking up a spiked bat behind his back, ready to strike as soon as he got close enough. Just one clear hit to the head should do the trick. He kept it hidden behind his back as he approached.

Sonic didn't move an muscle, save for blowing another bubble, letting it pop loudly as Robotnik came closer with each step.

But just as Robotnik swung down the bat, he struck something metallic instead of hedgehog quills. Sonic was standing next to him, tsk-tsking that he had just pummeled the head of one of his own Robots, which fell over sparking and sputtering parts everywhere.

"Uh-oh, looks like Six is out for the season, Coach. Better find a substitute quick!"

Raging, Robotnik took a few more swings at the hedgehog, missing each time by just millimeters, each time slamming it onto another player instead of Sonic.

"And Seven! And Eight! And Nine!" Sonic exclaimed. They all fell over with dented-in heads.

"You'd better be careful or you'll be out of a team and I'll win," Sonic said, wagging a finger at him. "Now play nice or I'll be back," he flashed a toothy grin and was back over and lounging in the Cyclones dugout before Robotnik could even turn around and scream at him. Sonic popped another bubble and waved.

Sergeant Doberman yawned, standing up and shaking off his sleepiness, cracking his back loudly, "Hmmm, must have dozed off. I gotta remember to stay alert!"

Robotnik threw down his baseball hat and scrambled to fix the bots that Sonic had dented. Thankfully he hadn't completely trashed them, but even after some adjustments they sorely needed new parts, of which he was fresh out.

"How are your players holding up Doc?"

"Sergeant!" Robotnik hid his wrench, "Oh we're just doing fine! Ready to go when you are!"

"Great! Time out's over, it's time to start the game. Send out your next batter."

"Get out there number six!" Robotnik yelled. Two of them nodded and banged into each other and fell over. Robotnik slapped his forehead. At least they were already ahead. All he had to do was make sure Sonic's team didn't get a home run. Surely Scratch and Grounder could do that, couldn't they?

"You're number six, and you're number seven! Now you get out there and you sit down on the bench!" He screeched. The robots did the opposite of what he wanted, but he let it go. So long as one of them went out to the plate, that was fine. He went back to tweaking the other two that were broken.

Robotnik took a moment to look back up at the scoreboard. Ha! He had nothing to worry about. They were ahead. There was no way any of them could score enough, especially with the Great Bobby Bambino unable to hit. Besides, he had no outs this inning. They could still score some more if he was lucky. Besides, Sonic had forgotten that he still had some tricks up his sleeves... in fact, while he was working on these ones, perhaps he could install some extra surprises. He liked that idea.

* * *

Sonic and Tails were hit by barrage of hugs and high-fives from their team-mates. They laughed and enjoyed the attention.

"Alright guys, c'mon we still got one more chance to finish this game. Let's get these guys out. Then it's our turn."

"Just be careful out there, mate," MacHopper warned, pointing out the land mine sensors. "Step on one of those and it's game over!"

"Thanks. I'll keep that in 'mined', Mac." Sonic laughed, heading out the pitcher's plate, expertly avoiding every mine in his way as if he were playing a harmless game of hopskotch.

"Don't worry," Tails said, "I'll look out for him."

"Glad someone is," Mac said, patting him on the back, "You're doing a bonza job catching, keep it up!"

Tails grinned as he put on his catcher's mask and twirled his tails, flying over to home plate.

The batter, Android Number 7, wobbled over to home plate. It had to feel along the ground because it couldn't see, only the top of its head could be seen in its neck. Tails sniggered as he took his place but stopped laughing when Sergeant Doberman shot him an angry look and threw the baseball out to Sonic.

Sonic lifted an eyebrow as he tossed down his sack of chalk, tossing the ball back and forth a few times in his hands. Tails thought for a moment and then held up three fingers. Sonic shook his head. Tails made a choking gesture. Sonic thought for a moment and shook his head again. Tails squished his face like a fish, using his hands as fins. Sonic laughed and nodded.

He wound up and threw a ball aimed straight for where the mouth should have been on the bot. Unfortunately instead of beaning him in the face, as was intended, he swung and fell to the ground, Tails catching the ball.

"STREEEERIKE ONE!" The Sergeant called and the stadium quivered with excitement everyone talking frantically. No one dared cheer loudly though, because Robotnik was pacing just outside the dugout.

Robotnik discovered he did have plenty to worry about. Sonic and Tails struck out Bot number seven in three frenzied pitches, each one completely different from the last. It did not matter. Even if they only came out of this inning with five runs, his two-point lead was still sufficient to win.

Even so he slammed his drink on top of Number 8 as he struck out and took number 9's bat and bashed him on the head purposefully. Since it was already dented in it didn't do too much more damage. He pulled them all together for a quick meeting as Sonic's team celebrated.

He grabbed Androids 6 and 7 by the arm and threw them to the ground. "Listen up you sorry bunch of recycled rejects! I want to see some dirty dealing this last inning. All you have to do is get three outs from them and we win! I don't care what you have to do. I want to win! But, if you don't pull yourselves together and strike out those Cyclones, losing this baseball game will be the least of your worries."

He glared at everyone present. "Do I make myself clear?"

"I dunno you look pretty solid to-" Grounder started but Scratch and Coconuts muffled him.

"Crystal-clear sir!" Scratch replied loudly.

Robotnik stepped forwards towards them. Scratch closed his eyes, ready for a beating. All he received was a pat on the head.

"Good. now let's play ball gentlebots," Robotnik said, his mood improving already. He watched the Cyclones dugout carefully. "Enjoy your last moment of freedom while it lasts, hedgehog."

END OF CHAPTER 11


	12. I'm sick of this asinine game!

**CHAPTER 12: "I'm sick of this asinine game!"  
**

* * *

Sonic stepped up to the plate to the crowd cheering out his name, much to Robotnik's dismay. He shouted an order to his sentinel robots and they warmed up their lasers, pointing them into the crowd. Everyone quieted down a little, but the talking and whispering made it's own dull roar. At least they weren't chanting that rodent's name anymore though. That made him happy enough for now.

"C'mon, why don't you just give me the ball and I'll hit it out of the park," Sonic said to Scratch.

"Try this, Hedgehog!" Scratch yelled as he threw a wild ball.

Sonic watched it as best as he could. He knew he shouldn't swing, but he couldn't help it, he wanted to knock that smirk off Scratch's face. The whoosh of his swing and Doberman's call shortly afterward nearly made him want to break his bat in too. Instead he took a deep breath and put his bat back up.

"What's the matter, Sonic?" Grounder said, "Can't hit a ball?"

Sonic didn't respond. Focusing. C'mon, I can't let them all down, he thought. Everyone's counting on me.

Scratch grinned as he threw another ball, this one a curve. Sonic stepped back before it did bean him in the face.

"Strike two!"

"Aw c'mon, that was a ball!" Sonic said, but stopped when the Sergeant gave him a dirty look. Don't make him mad, Sonic told himself.

"You can do it Sonic!" Tails shouted.

This time, I'll hit it out of the park, Sonic thought. I can feel it.

Scratch wound up and threw the fastest ball Sonic had ever seen. He gripped tightly and swung at just the right time. He nearly cried out for joy as it struck the wood, soaring into the air.

"Go baby go!" Sonic said, cheering as it flew back towards the green grassy hills just under the scoreboard. "Go!"

His heart flew, but he couldn't run, he had to watch. He couldn't take his eyes off it as it fell and then. The glove snapped it out of the air. Just like that he fell to his knees. It had been the perfect hit. He'd likely never get another one. And this outfielding bot had shoting up into the air on extended legs, catching it just a few feet above where any normal player would have been able to jump. The stadium erupted in boos. Sonic stood up and walked away, clenching his bat tightly. No use fighting it.

In the dugout his teammates told him good job, but somehow it felt empty and he nodded to them, sitting by Tails as Hodge Podge went up to bat next.

"That was so cool!" Tails said suddenly.

Sonic turned to look at him and saw his eyes so full of awe. Tails would still think he was cool even if he struck out. "Way past cool?" Sonic asked.

Tails nodded. "They cheated. I don't care what anyone says. You hit a home run in my book."

Sonic put an arm around him, "Thanks keed."

* * *

Things didn't improve at all for Hodge Podge. He hit a base run but the first baseman caught it, tagging the base before even he could get there fast enough. Things weren't looking very good.

"One more out boys!" Robotnik cheered. "Then we've beaten that hedgehog once and for all!"

"What are we gonna do if we lose?" Tails said.

"We're not done yet," Breezy said, "You can count on me," She said to them with a wink.

Breezy had the crowd howling as she stepped up to the plate, swinging her bat, tapping the dust gently off her cleats.

Junior was making the biggest noise of everyone, partially due to him having a horn built into his arm. She blew him a kiss and he nearly fell over. Sonic and Tails laughing and propping him up.

"Hit a homer!" Tails called.

"I'll do my best," she said and stepped up to the plate.

"Hey there," Grounder said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Quit flirting with the opposition!" Scratch squawked at him from the pitcher's mound.

"I wasn't!"

"I'm way out of your league," she said, standing tall and preparing to swing. "Gimme your best shot, nuggets for brains!"

"Why you! TAKE THIS!" Scratch wound up and threw a crazy curve ball. Breezy extended her arms to hit it but it curved even further out of her reach, Grounder reaching even further with his hand to catch it.

"Strike one!" Sergeant Doberman called loudly.

"That's not fair," Breezy said.

"Are you arguing with me missy?"

"Breezy, just go for it!" Sonic called out.

She sighed and shrugged, "Why no, I'm not," she said and turned back to the plate, preparing again.

"C'mon girl," Miss Possum said. "You got it!" Everyone leaned forward and quieted down, waiting.

Scratch threw the ball and it whizzed towards the plate like a rocket. Breezy swung.

The ball cracked against her bat putting a dent in the aluminum as it ricocheted and rocketed across the ground. Scratch dove for it but missed, hitting the ground as Breezy took off. The bots converged on it.

"Slide Breezy, SLIDE!" Junior called out.

"But I'll get dirty!" she cried.

"Just do it!" Sonic yelled and she dove, making a deep rut as her metallic body dug into the ground. But not safe yet! Her slide triggered one of the mines and it blew up under her, sending her flying into the air. She toppled down and hit the base, just seconds before the ball arrived.

"SAFE!" Doberman called as Sonic and the others rushed toward her, avoiding the mines. She was anything but safe!

"Breezy!" Junior and Sonic pulled her out of ground, a lot of her electronics were leaking out.

"Told you I'd get dirty," she said, laughing a little.

"Tails," Sonic called and he bent down next to her.

"She's just burnt. Her casing took most of the hit. You'll be okay Breezy," he said.

Everyone felt a little better, but still.

"No more time for time outs. Is she fit to play or not?" Sergeant Doberman said.

"Of course I am," Breezy stood up, wobbling. "Just fell down is all. Excuse me," she stood tall on the base, stuffing her fallen circuits back inside. Hodge Podge returned with a spare uniform and she slipped it on over her other one.

"Breezy," Junior started, but she put a finger to his lips.

"You heard Tails. I'm okay for now. But could you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you," he said with a smile.

"Hit one out of the park for me so I can walk home."

"You got it," he said.

"Not if I hit one first," Mad Mike said with a grin, "I'm up next!"

The Cyclones returned to the dugout, save for Breezy who stood ready next to the base.

Mad Mike stepped up to the plate. "You try anything funny with me and you're gonna see why they call me Mad Mike. Got it?"

Grounder gulped. "C'mon Scratch! Hurry up and throw the ball!"

Scratch rolled his eyes but did so, pitching a screw ball at Mike. Mike swung too quickly.

"Strike one!"

"Don't worry about it Mike!" Griz said, "You can do it!"

Mike nodded and focused, watching as Scratch threw the same ball again. This time he swung too late, just barely missing it.

"What's the matter, can't hit the ball? BWAH-HA-HA-HA!" Scratch teased.

"Uh Scratch! You shouldn't make him mad!"

"Why? What's he gonna do? Hit the ball! HA-HA-HA!"

Mike hit the plate, digging it deeper into the ground. "Pitch." His nostrils flared, steam hissing out of them.

The pitch came same as before, but this time Mike was ready. His senses heightened. He swung at just the right time, the wood connecting to the leather ball with a sweet crack that riveted through the bat, slamming it straight back at Scratch. He held up a glove, but it went straight through, leaving a smoking hole. Mike dropped the bat and ran, Breezy already taking off for second. The bots scrambled but they weren't nearly fast enough and the ball was red hot! They passed it from hand to hand, trying to manuever it back.

"You idiots! If you don't strike someone out, I'm going to murder you with my bare hands!" Robotnik screeched at Scratch. Scratch gulped.

"Hey Scratch, Grounder! Don't worry, he can't hurt you as long as you're playing," Sonic called out, "He needs you to play! Otherwise he loses!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Grounder said, "You need us."

"ARGH!" Robotnik fumed, throwing a folding chair down. It bent in half. He squeezed the railing, steam coming off of it. The hedge-rat was right of course, but after the game, there would be blood - or well, motor oil in their case.

"Your turn, little bro," Sonic said, handing him his bat.

"I'm nervous," Tails said. "Maybe someone else should go. What if I get out?"

Sonic sat down next to him. "It's okay to be nervous. Heck I start to sweat when I get up there."

"You do?" Tails said, "But you always look so confident!"

"I'm just good at acting not scared," Sonic said with a smile. "You did really well last time. Just remember what I told you."

"I remember. I'll do my best."

"Atta boy!" Sonic ruffled his bangs. "Good skills, kiddo."

Tails ran up to the plate, Sonic watching like a hawk from the edge of the dugout. He knew Robotnik would try something, especially if Tails could hit someone home. He readied himself, checking his team-mates. They all looked anxious. He couldn't blame them. Especially with the crack running along the baseline and the mines. This place looked more like a battlefield than a baseball field. It would be over soon though. Sonic could feel it in the air.

"Hey Pipsqueak," Grounder teased, "Betcha gonna strike out!"

Tails swallowed. "That's what you think, bolt-brain."

Scratch grinned, "Seriously? The kid's batting? This will be a cinch."

"Just throw the ball!" Tails shouted, holding up his bat, squatting down, ready to do his best. He would. For Sonic and all of his friends. He would do his best.

"What's the worst he can do?" Robotnik chortled, "Hit a home run? Ah-ha-ha-ha! He can barely keep his shoes tied!"

"Don't listen to them keed," Sonic called.

Tails nodded, licking his lips. He watched Scratch, not taking his eyes off of him.

Scratch nodded to Grounder's signal and threw a fast ball. Tails swung with all his might. He missed. "Strike one!"

Tails swallowed. He gripped his bat tighter and stood tall. No reason to be afraid. Sonic was here. Even if he missed, Sonic wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. All his friends were here. Tails hated the look Scratch was giving him. You're just a kid. You can't do anything. Tails took a deep breath and let it out.

Scratch threw another pitch, this one nearly dented Tails's helmet, but he managed to hit it. It went astray though, popping straight up into the air. The bots scrambled for it, but one of them tumbled into the canyon along the baseline and the ball hit the top of the dugout.

"Foul ball! Strike two!" Tails frowned. At the very least he had hit it though. That made him feel a little better. He straightened up again. He could hit it this time. Scratch was using the same pitch on him.

"C'mon Tails," Sonic whispered, "Please let him get a hit."

Scratch pitched a frenzied fast ball, zooming towards him. Tails swung. He saw the ball hit and fly off into the distance. Tails was dizzy for a moment, watching it go. It was so high! Suddenly he could hear voices. Sonic's was louder than any other, but in all the noise he could barely make it out.

"RUN HOME TAILS!"

No, wait, that was wrong. He said... Sonic actually said... Home Run Tails! A home run. It couldn't be. Could it? He realized he was still carrying his bat, watching the ball head toward the outfield walls. The ball went exactly halfway between the left and centerfield, the two bots colliding as they both raced to get it. They wouldn't have been able to catch it anyway. The ball fell lower and lower and finally sunk with a plop into the little fountain nestled among the grassy knolls at the back of the field, beyond the field's inner walls. It floated there, bobbing in the waves.

"HOME RUN" displayed on the giant video screen. Tails dropped his bat. He ran. He had never run like that before around all the bases. He could hear so many people chanting his name. "HOME RUN TAILS!" He could see Breezy and Mike heading for home, then crossing it, receiving high fives from his other teammates. He chased them, dodging the land mines easily, flying part way, even doing a cartwheel as he touching each plate. Everything was a blur to him. His heart was flying. He had only felt like this once before. It was the day he had met Sonic. When he had finally found a home.

And there Sonic was, waiting for him at home plate, cheering his name, his arms open wide. Just for fun, Tails leapt the last few feet, tackling him at home plate. He nuzzled him, lost in the noise of the deafening crowd. Everyone was cheering his name. "HOME RUN TAILS! HOME RUN TAILS!"

Sonic was saying something to him, but he couldn't hear a word of it. He just hugged him tightly. Pressed against him he could hear Sonic's words now. "That was amazing! I'm so proud of you little bro." Tails laughed. He thrust his fist into the air and laughed louder than he ever had before. At Robotnik. At the dumb bots. At anyone who ever told him he was too young, too short, too small. Take that world! He laughed even louder, his voice breaking as happy tears streamed down his cheeks.

* * *

Robotnik only stood speechless, staring first at the fox and then at the scoreboard. He couldn't believe it. He had witnessed it with his own two eyes and it still made absolutely no sense. How had that child been able to hit a home run? Not only that but he had brought home the other two runners as well and those blasted Cyclones were leading the game again! Even if his Androids struck the next runner out, he would still have to play another round just to get two more stupid points so he could legally win again! Robotnik fumed. Someone was about to get throttled.

* * *

"Things are getting crazy on the in-field folks," Coconuts said, "But one things for sure! This game's not over yet. Cause the Androids are gonna kick all their butts into next Tuesday! They will! They will!"

It was at that precise moment that the fans had just about enough of Coconuts sports commentary. An angry mob of them broke down the door into the announcer's booth, cornering him against the scoreboard control panel and the radio equipment. Coconuts gulped.

They grabbed him and tossed him out the window. "Everyone's a critic," he said. The whole stadium errupted into cheers as he careened towards the Androids dugout.

Just as Robotnik was about to head onto the field to tackle the nearest player, Coconuts's head burst through the booth. Robotnik grabbed him around the neck and yanked him the rest of the way through.

"Just in time." Robotnik said with a grin and then frowned, shaking him so violently that some of his nuts and bolts shook free, falling to the ground. "This is all your fault, Coconuts! You let them escape from the penalty box and now they've hit a home run!"

"I'll make it up to you sir, I swear! I do! I do! I'll barbeque that hedgehog!"

"SCRATCH! GROUND-AHH!" They stumbled over the railing into the dugout. All of them fell down into a pile. "GET OFF OF ME ALL OF YOU!"

They leaped up and hurriedly backed away, Coconuts trying to keep Scratch and Grounder between him and Robotnik. With any luck, he was more angry at them at the moment.

"I'm sick of this asinine game!" He grabbed a radio from his pocket and switched it on. "Attention all ROBOTS! I command you to destroy this field. And everyone and every thing on it!"

"Even the hedgehog?" Grounder asked.

"Especially him," he said between gritted teeth. "I want this stadium leveled! AND I WANT IT DONE YESTERDAY!"

"How can we do that? We weren't even here yesterday," Grounder said.

Robotnik threw all three of them out of the dugout at once, screaming curses at them.

"Oh, I see. He meant to say today," Grounder said.

"Forget it, let's just do it," Scratch said, picking up a metal bat and handing another to Grounder, "I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Me too! Me too!" Coconuts chimed in as he picked up one as well.

* * *

"Uh-oh, we gotta cut this party short, gang! Looks like that no-goodnik is tired of playing straight."

The huge sentinal robots that had been standing at attention throughout the entire suddenly came to life again, their eyes flashing a bright red as they tore apart the stands, shooting their lasers into the crowd. The crowd began to run for the exits, which were currently blocked by huge walls. The crowds turned, running and dodging debris.

"There's too many of them!" Breezie said, "What do we do?"

"We gotta split up, Team! Gather round!" Everyone circled around Sonic. "First we gotta make a way out for the fans, or people are gonna get trampled to death!" Sonic said, pointing at the stands.

"Leave dat to us, Sonic," Mad Mike said, and his brother Big Griz nodded.

"Better leave that to me, you won't get there fast enough!" Sonic said.

"I'll get 'em there lickity-split!" Hodge Podge said.

"Go for it, bud!" Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

"Hang on fellas!" Hodge-Podge said, revving up. Mad Mike and Big Griz each grabbed a metal bat and then grabbed onto one of Hodge Podge's hands. The hare blasted away, kicking up a cyclone of dust in his wake, knocking a couple of the Cyclones off their feet.

"Okay who wants to take down the big ugly ones?" Sonic said.

"It would be my pleasure," Junior said, "Dad always puts a shut-down switch in the head! I bet I can find a way to shut them off from the inside."

Breezie kissed Junior's cheek. "I'll go with you," she said, revealing her hidden helicopter propeller. "In case you need a lift, sweety."

"You two be careful!" Sonic waved as Junior gave him a thumbs up. Breezie carried him off towards the first of the hulking robots, landing them on its massive head. He watched them for a moment more until a hand tugged on his jersey. He turned to Tails.

"Sonic, what about Bobby's friends?" Tails said, pointing to the blimp.

"You'll never get past the security system," Wes Weasly said.

"Let me guess, another thing you sold him?" Sonic asked.

Wes grinned innocently.

"Then guess who just volunteered for a rescue mission," Sonic smirked.

Wes backed up, right into MacHopper, who stopped him from running. He waved his hands wildly, sweating. "Oh no-no-no, I don't do field work! It's not in my contract."

"Don't worry, you tell me what to do and I'll do the hard work," MacHopper said.

"I'm coming with you guys!" Bobby said.

"Alright! Hop on!" MacHopper said and he grabbed onto MacHopper's back.

"Wait! No! I hate confrontations!" Wes squealed as MacHopper grabbed onto him.

"Knew I could count on you, Mac!" Sonic said, saluting him as he bounded off across the field, carrying an agitated Wes Weasly who complained the whole way. They watched as they headed off towards the blimp.

A cry echoed and Sonic turned to his left. The Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad ran towards the Cyclones dugout spiked bats waving, followed by the remaining Androids players. Instead of bats and gloves, these robotic players were now carrying Robotnik's latest experimental weaponry, each one aimed at the three remaining heroes.

"Anything you need me to do?" Miss Possum asked, armed with a bat slung across her shoulder.

"Hope you don't taking out the trash," Sonic said, as he and Tails picked up a bat to join her, "Cause here it comes!"

"Don't worry, I love a good spring cleanin," she said as the three of them stood tall, baseball bats at the ready.

As the bots drew closer, Tails gasped. He recognized those weapons! They were the same kind of weapon that Scratch and Grounder had been looking at in the locker room! "Sonic! Those are Multi-Mega-Muck-Missile Launchers," Tails said as the bots closed in.

"Nothing we can't handle, big guy," Sonic said with a smile.

Miss Possum exchanged a nod and smile with Tails as well. That was all he needed to hear. He gripped his bat tightly in his gloved hands. He was finally getting his wish. He had been wanting to pound these guys with a bat all day. He grinned.

END OF CHAPTER 12


	13. Thank you! Have a wonderful destruction!

**CHAPTER 13: "Thank you and have a wonderful destruction!"**

* * *

Panicking fans flooded the stadium halls, everyone running amidst the falling debris. The upper levels cleared out first, but they created a block on the lower levels as the people converged from every direction, every person scrambling to find any exit they could. Giant walls prevented their escape. Robotnik had sealed off every one while the game was being played!

The people stopped in place, unable to run any further, nor retreat to where they had come as the upper levels crumbled forward towards the infield, the bots turning around slowly now that the stadium seats were demolished to stare down at the people pressing against the walls in fear. They stomped towards them.

The pillars of the stadium shook violently from their footfalls, sending the fans falling to their knees.

One group looked up to see a giant robot fist about to slam down on top of them.

Everyone screamed as the wind howled from the blow. A second passed, the dust settling. They all looked around. They were alive! The shadow of the fist remained above them, holding still in the air. They didn't waste another moment, scrambling up and out of the way.

Holding up the giant fist were two bears, their muscles flexed to the limit, straining against the pressure.

"No ya don't ya big lugnut!" Mad Mike said between his gritted teeth. "Nuthin can stop..."

"DA BEARS!" They shouted in unison.

Hodge Podge climbed up on the robot in the blink of an eye and swung his leg super fast, kicking it so hard he left a deep dent. It lifted its fist and reached up to slam it into Hodge Podge. The hare was just as quick as his blue friend, and easily leapt up in the air, the robots own fist connecting so hard that it punched its own head clean off its shoulders.

"HEADS UP!" Hodge Podge shouted as the crowd dove out of the way, the robot head smashing to the ground. He leapt down as the robot crashed into the tumbled stadium, sending up another thick cloud of dust.

Da Bears gave Hodge Podge a high five. "C'mon, we gotta make some holes in these walls before the crowds get antsy!"

Big Griz nodded to Mad Mike who picked him up by his feet. "Get outta da way! I'm coming through!" Griz shouted as Mad Mike swung him against the first wall they came to. Griz's hard head bashed clean through, his head wobbling like a tuning fork.

Mad Mike continued to brandish his brother like the world's biggest club, bashing giant holes in the walls. Everyone stood back as the cracks from the holes surged up to the top of the walls.

Hodge Podge followed in their wake, giving a gentle breath that caused each one to crumble into dust. Everyone cheered as they fled the stadium into the parking lot, most people not even bothering to grab their cars and just heading for the hills.

"Where are they going?" Hodge Podge wondered, watching the other robots head out of the stadium. "I'm gonna help take out the robots," Hodge Podge called out to Da Bears as the last wall crumbled, "I think you fellas got everything under control here!"

"But I wanna play ball some more," Griz said dizzily, and then fell over. "Da, maybe I should sit this one out coach," he said, blacking out.

Mad Mike helped his brother up, letting him lean on him. "Go ahead! We'll catch up!"

Hodge Podge was gone in a flash. The other robots weren't hard to find. They had grouped together just outside the stadium. But what he couldn't figure out was, why one of them was fighting the other ones! It swung a powerful punch, knocking one back onto the highway, flopping up the asphalt like a giant carpeted wave, nearly sending the drivers flying off the road as it rose and fell.

* * *

"YEEEHAW!" Junior called out as he tugged on the wires and circuits which he had hotwired onto his own. "This is fun!"

"Watch out for the people on the highway!" Breezie warned. She was half inside the ear of the robot, half outside watching as the giant robot stomped along the ground, directing Junior's steps.

"Oops! You're right, sorry about that!" Junior said, tugging a string of wires and bending over. The giant robot he was controlling copied his motions perfectly. He shoved the deactivated bot off the roadway.

"Behind you!" Breezie shouted.

"Got it!" Junior swung around, getting tangled up in the wires. "Whoa!" The bot tottered as he and Breezie tumbled around in the head cavity, getting snared by the wires.

The bot kicked out wildly, taking down another two of the bots but then it fell to the ground itself with a mighty thud, shaking up Breezie and Junior. They shook again as they felt the footfalls of another bot stepping towards them.

"Abandon bot!" Junior yelped, but they were too tangled in the mess.

Just as another sentinel bot was about to stomp down on the head of their bot, it stopped mid-air. Hodge Podge tugged harder on the rope and ran around a couple more times, tying up the limb in the air to the one on the ground. "TIMBER!" He yelled as the bot fell backwards against another one that was coming to help it elminate the rogue bot. They both tumbled hard onto the ground.

Hodge Podge circled them with more rope, going up and over and under until they were tied up so tightly they couldn't get up. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. Phew, that was the last one.

Or so he thought.

All the breath was crushed out of him by a giant fist that plucked him off the ground.

"I've got you now, you heinous hare!" Robotnik's voice echoed out from the robot.

Hodge Podge leaned back, spotting the bloated Dictator standing on top of the final bot's shoulders as it brought him closer.

"Let him go, Pops!"

Robotnik turned around to find another robot staring him in the face, but he recognized the voice all too well.

"Well, well if it isn't my delinquent, disowned son," he said.

The bot closed in, raising a fist to strike him down.

"So you think you can beat your old man at his own game, eh?" Robotnik said, pressing a button on his control device.

The bot released Hodge Podge and swung to block Junior's punch, catching its fist just an inch before it would have knocked it's head clean off. The two bots grappled with each other, fighting for dominance.

"Just face it," Junior's voice echoed, "You've lost, Dad! Quit being a sore loser and go home!"

"Don't you dare talk to me in that tone of voice!" Robotnik retorted, hanging on for dear life as Junior's robot tackled his to the ground.

"No! NO! NOOOOOO!" Robotnik pounded on the robot. "I refuse to lose! Get up, you useless pile of scrap metal!" Robotnik shouted, kicking the robot so hard that he hurt his own foot. He slipped and slid off the shoulder onto the ground. "When I get through with all of you you'll be lucky if I kill you!" He threatened. He yelped as the robot hand came towards him, but he disappeared under a pile of debris.

"Where did he go, Breezie?" Junior asked.

"I don't know, let's get out of this thing and go help Sonic!"

"I'll disable this one. You get the other two and I'll meet you in the in-field!"

"See you soon sweety," Breezie blew him a kiss and slipped out of the bot's head.

"I love that robo-gal!" Junior said as he violently ripped all of the wires out, the bot short-circuiting and its eyes going dark.

The nimble kangaroo seemed to ricochet off the crumbled stands as he made his way to the blimp, carrying two passengers, one complaining the whole way and struggling.

"Don't get too close! The lasers will activate!" Wes covered his eyes and hoped his eminent death would at least be quick if nothing else.

It was too late to stop him. MacHopper dodged their fire. He landed briefly on his tail, springing high up to kick the laser guns off-target with his long feet. He landed perfectly outside the grounded blimp. Wes opened an eye. MacHopper finally responded to Wes's demand and dropped him onto the ground. He sighed heavily in the dirt, but had no time to pity himself because Bobby Bambino picked him up by his Cyclones jersey and set him upright with his good arm, dusting him off politely.

"Thanks Palsy," Wes said.

"Don't thank me yet," Bobby warned, "If anything happens to my teammates, a medical bill is gonna be the least of your worries. Got it?"

"Yessir, Mr. Bambino sir," Wes replied, opening up a panel that neither MacHopper nor Bobby had seen there a second ago. "Ha, he didn't even change the default password," Wes said as he pressed a complex series of buttons that lit up and beeped. The buttons turned a shade of green and beeped twice like a disabled car alarm. Another panel slid open and he pressed the big red button.

A hatch popped lose form the side and hit the dirt. Bobby wasted no time running up it. As soon as he stepped inside a screeching alarm activated. He fell to his knees, covering his ears. "I thought you disabled the system!" Bobby yelled over it.

"I did! He must have installed something of his own!" Wes covered his ears and backed away.

Yet another panel opened, showing them small screen. On the screen was a picture of a kitten batting around a bomb surrounded by hearts. "Self-Destruction sequence activated," a female robotic voice crooned, "You now have - FIVE MINUTES REMAINING - to evacuate to the pre-determined safety zone. All material remaining in the harzard zone will be vaporized-" It showed a picture of the blimp exploding in a large area, obliterating everything above ground within a large yellow circle. It then changed to a photo of tourists heading out in orderly fashion carrying shopping bags and souvenirs, "-so please remember to check under your seats for your personal items. Thank you and have a wonderful destruction!" It ended with a big smiley face, showing a timer countdown. It was already at 4:45 and falling!

Bobby had already run inside, before MacHopper could stop him.

"You heard the lady," Wes said, backing off, "Could I interest you in some 'iDad' insurance?"

"What's that?"

"Imminent Death and Dismemberment, of course."

"No way!"

"Then it's time for me to take my leave! See ya palsy!" Wes took off, nearly as fast as Sonic himself.

"That bloke's sleazier than a one-eyed snake!" MacHopper replied, checking the timer and shouting inside for Bobby over the sirens. He hestitated going inside. He'd just get lost. Bobby would have to save them. He had to get everyone else away from the stadium. "I gotta warn Sonic!" He said bounding off as quickly as he had arrived. Luckily Sonic wasn't too hard to find in all the chaos.

* * *

Meanwhile the remaining Androids players had Sonic, Tails and Miss Possum completely surrounded. The heroes stood in a tight circle, back to back.

"Ready?" Sonic asked.

"Ready!"

He handed his bat to Miss Possum and then slipped his arms around their waists. "I call this move my Triple Header!"

His friends held their bats out as Sonic spun into a blue tornado. The SSSSS Squad members freaked out and backed off, but the Android bots foolishly rushed towards the tornado. The rapidly spinning bats tore them apart, their weapons scattering before they could react to fire them. Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts dove into the dugout, watching carefully.

"How are we gonna stop him?" Grounder asked.

"With these, doofus!" Scratch crawled out and grabbed one of the dropped weapons: a Mega-Muck-Missile Launcher. "Watch this!"

He aimed not at the tornado itself but at the ground underneath. A missile fired out and exploded into the ground, turning the surface into a pile of green goo.

"You missed!" Coconuts exclaimed, grabbing for the gun, "Gimme that!"

Scratch grabbed his head and twisted it towards where he fired, "I didn't miss bananas-for-brains! It's a direct hit! Watch! Bwah-ha-ha-HA!"

Sure enough as the tornado ran over the gunk it slowed almost immediately, Sonic tripping into the gunk, losing his grip on his friends, who got flung to the side, rolling to a stop in the dirt about twenty feet away. Sonic bellyflopped forward into it, thrashing against the sticky muck. His movements slowed, the gunk pulling against him, forcing him down against the ground. He grunted, trying to peel himself back, but the green goop only stretched like a rubber band, snapping him painfully back.

"You got him! You got him!" Coconuts cheered.

"Nice shot, Scratch!" Grounder said as they rushed towards the fallen hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Tails and Miss Possum cried out. They carefully stood up, wincing from the fall. They scrambled to their feet as fast as they could and hurried toward him.

"Stay back!" Scratch warned, "Or the hedgehog gets it!" He pulled out a laser and shoved it against Sonic's forehead.

Tails and Miss Possum stopped in their tracks.

"Now back up!" he ordered, advancing towards them. They did so.

Tails hurriedly tugged on Miss Possum's sleeve, whispering frantically, "I need water Miss Possum! Lots of it!"

"Tails! Can't you wait?"

"Not for me!" he pulled her closer, "It's for Sonic! Mega Muck is water soluable! It's the only way to free him!"

"In that case," she said, "I know where to get some. Follow me!"

"Look! They're running away!" Grounder said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Hoo-hoo! They know when they're beat!" Coconuts added.

"BWAH-HA-HA-HA! Looks like your friends have abandoned you, Sonic!" Scratch said, stomping down on Sonic's head, pushing it further into the muck. Sonic could barely breathe and let out a muffled growl.

"Yeah, they probably think you smell or somethin!" Grounder added, poking his nose roughly.

"The only thing that smells around here is you varmits!" Miss Possum called out from the dugout, frantically turning a red valve. The long hose leading out onto the field filled up quickly.

"It's time for you guys to hit the showers!" Tails replied, holding up the powerful stadium hose as it sprayed a powerful stream of water towards Sonic and the robots. They were completely drenched in seconds. Sonic closed his eyes shut, struggling again as he felt the water wash over him. He could feel the mega muck breaking down. Just a little bit more and he'd break free!

Grounder turned his drill hand into a shield blocking the water. Scratch and Coconuts gathered behind him as he closed the gap towards Tails. They shook the water off themselves.

"Water doesn't hurt us!" Grounder said proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We're waterproof, pipsqueak!" Coconuts added.

Tails threw aside the hose as they cornered him against the wall. "But your Mega Muck isn't!" He ducked and dove between Scratch's legs, but Coconuts scooped him up, pinning his arms to his sides. "Let me go!"

"Whaddya mean?" Coconuts shook him.

"He was aiming for me!" All three robots turned around. Sonic coughed as Miss Possum helped pull him free from the rest of the gunk. Sonic brushed off the now oily gunk and shook the excess off.

He grinned at them. "Are you three gonna play nice?" Sonic wrung out one glove and then the other. "Or do we have a problem?" He slipped on his gloves and cracked his knuckles.

"You're on your own, mop-boy," Scratch said, grabbing Grounder and fleeing the scene as fast as possible. Miss Possum picked up the hose and pulled it taut as they ran by, tripping them. They fell apart into a pile in their own dugout, their parts rolling about.

Coconuts gulped, looking around for any possible way out of this without being torn to pieces. He held Tails in front of him as a shield as Sonic approached him. "Don't come any closer!" His threat was empty and Sonic knew it, continuing to stare him down and close the gap between them.

Coconuts flung Tails forward with a yelp and scrambled up into the rubble of the stadium stands. Sonic didn't chase after him and instead bent down to his young friend, offering a hand up. "You alright?"

Tails took it. "Thanks."

"I should be thanking you two! That was too close." He waved to Miss Possum as she hurried to them.

"The water was Tails's idea," she said with a smirk.

"Serious?" Sonic seemed very pleased. Tails blushed. "What would I do without you bro?"

"You'd be stuck!" Tails said with a mischevious grin.

Sonic and Miss Possum laughed as Sonic pulled Tails into a head-lock, giving him a noogie. Tails giggled.

"Sonic!"

They all turned around to see MacHopper bounding towards them. He skidded to a halt in the muddy ground.

"What's up Mac?"

"Got big problems!" MacHopper replied, nearly out of breath, "The blimp was booby-trapped! This whole place is gonna blow in a few minutes!"

"What?"

"That's right Hedgehog!" A shadow fell over them. Everyone looked up. Robotnik floated just out of reach in his Egg-o-Matic hovercraft. "I'm afraid play time is over."

"Once a sore loser, always a sore loser," Sonic replied with a shrug and a sigh.

"The only one who's going to be sore is you!" Robotnik cackled, pressing a button on his control console. A large weapon pointed just an inch away from his face.

"C'mon! That all you got?"

Robotnik growled. "My Kinetic Blaster will hit you with so much force that you'll land someone on the next continent!" He snickered.

"Hmm, you don't say," Sonic said inspecting it, "But is it powerful enough to take out your own giant robot?" he pointed up behind him.

"Ha! I'm not falling for your pathetic little trick hedgehog! You just want me to turn around so you can mess with my precious blaster!"

"Wow, guess I can't fool you Doc," Sonic said, still grinning. Miss Possum and Tails tilted their heads back, watching something behind him. Sonic seemed to be watching it as well.

"Stop that! I told you I'm not falling for that!" A shadow fell over him. "What?"

He glanced behind him just in time to see one of his own giant robots slam down its huge foot on top of him, crushing him onto the ground. It ground him in for good measure it had gum on the bottom of its foot. A second later Breezy flew down, carrying Junior.

"I tried to warn you," Sonic said. He smirked.

Robotnik cursed at him. "You may have beaten me, but you won't be able to save your precious baseball players! I've locked them in the blimp and it's going to explode soon, taking everything here with it! AH-HA-HA-HA!"

He stopped laughing as large dust cloud approached. It was Hodge Podge and he wasn't alone. Da Bearz were with him and running in their wake was Bobby, followed by the Ghunderthorks!

"What's that you were saying?" Robotnik looked up to discover THE Bobby Bambino staring him down, surrounded by his teammates, all of them looking like they were about to tear him apart.

"Now, now gentlemen!" Robotnik said, trying to pull himself out of his ruined hovercraft. He was stuck inside it.

"Hey Tails, can you get that blaster off the ship?" Bobby asked.

Tails removed it. "Don't touch that, you two-tailed pest!"

"Whaddya gonna do to him?" Tails asked.

"Ban him from baseball for life," he said, aiming the weapon at him. "Sonic, why don't you do the honors?"

"That would be my pleasure," Sonic said, taking the weapon from him. "Any last words, Eggbelly?"

"You may have won this battle, hedgehog but next time you won't be so lucky!"

"We don't need luck," Sonic replied, "We ll whip your sorry butt any time, any place Ro-bum-nik."

"Yeah!" His friends replied in unison.

"Until then," he said, firing the weapon.

KERPOW! The ground exploded as Robotnik went flying into the air, blasting out of the stadium so fast that he went through the scoreboard easily. Before long he was a tiny dot. But they could hear him screaming, "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"

Everyone cheered.

"I hate to break up the party, mates," MacHopper said, "But we gotta clear the stadium in the next 30 seconds or we're toast!"

END OF CHAPTER 13


	14. We should do this again sometime

**CHAPTER 14: "We should do this again sometime."**

* * *

The Cyclones cheering stopped immediately, everyone giving Sonic their full attention.

"No problemo guys, I got this under control. Hey Hodge Podge! You up for a rescue brigade?" Sonic called to him.

He grinned and nodded, "You can count on me partner!"

"Don't worry about us, Sonic sweety," Breezy said, taking to the air with Junior.

"Tails you take Miss Possum and go with Breezy!" Sonic said.

"What about you Sonic?"

"I'll be fine!"

"Well... alright," Tails replied, "C'mon Miss Possum!" She held onto his hands as he flew up into the air. He followed Breezy out of the stadium.

"Alright everyone, form two lines! All aboard the Hedgehog & Hare Express!" Sonic called out.

Sonic and Hodge Podge took turns whisking pairs of people to safety, depositing them on the hilly meadows of the Green Hill Zone far enough from the stadium where the blast wouldn't harm them. All of the other fans had already cleared the parking lot, many of them abandoning their cars or choosing to drive where there was no road, eager to get away as fast as possible.

Tails and the others waited anxiously on the hill, cheering Sonic and Hodge Podge on as they made their rounds. Each of them was racing the other, Sonic betting Hodge Podge he could get twice as many back before he could. Tails smiled. They were both super competitive and this time it was actually helpful, improving their speed. There was only one trip left, Sonic immediately volunteering.

Bobby refused to leave before his teammates were safely away. Sonic raced back inside. He was so tired, but he just had one more trip to make, and it would be much easier carrying just one passenger than two or three at once. He could see him up ahead, he was running towards the end field, meeting him halfway, just as the sequence finished counting down, letting off one last warning claxxon.

Bobby flailed, signalling for him to get out of there. No way. I'm not leaving anyone behind, Sonic thought. He spurred himself into high gear.

Sonic had no time to stop so he literally rammed into Bobby, holding onto him as he kept running, ducking and leaping as the explosion started. Sonic didn't dare look back over his shoulder. He didn't slow down. His heart beat wildly in his chest. He could feel the heat half a second behind him. The force of the explosion propelled both of them forward just as he reached the edge of the parking lot, sending them flying, along with some parked cars. They hit the ground hard, rolling in the grass.

Tails and the others ran towards them over the hills. "Bobby! Sonic!" They called out.

"You big dummy," Sonic whispered, "You knew we didn't have time to get everyone out. That's why you went last."

Bobby touched his injured arm. "I'm as good as washed up now thanks to Robotnik's robots. Figured I might as well go out with a bang."

"No way," Sonic said, stopping to cough for a moment. "I don't care what anybody says. You're the best baseball player here in my book. Besides you should always do what you love. You've got a passion for baseball."

Bobby smiled a little. "But what if I can't play anymore with my arm?"

"You'd make one heck of a coach," Sonic said with a grin. "I would have given up if it weren't for you."

"We're even now," Bobby said.

Sonic smiled as their friends gathered around them. They lifted them up into the air, their cheers echoing far over the hills.

* * *

Approximately 1,357 miles away from the Stadium, Robotnik's Egg-o-Matic crashed into his very own laboratory. The giant golden statue of himself parked outside became dislodged due to the impact and toppled forwards, sliding down the hill on which his Fortress stood. He didn't know whether to be grateful or depressed and settled on a mixture of the two since at the very least he didn't have to listen to his moronic robots for the time being.

From that moment on, only one thought lingered in his mind. Sonic would pay for this. He would pay dearly.

* * *

As for the SSSSS Squad, they weren't vaporized but their parts were blasted so far away that they landed in a garbage dump over ten miles away.

"Ew! We stink!" Coconuts said as he managed to shove his head back onto his body. His lightbulb on top was cracked and sparked a little.

"I can't smell anything!" Grounder complained.

"That's cause you lost your nose, stupid!" Scratch squawked. "I wish I couldn't smell. Now we really need a bath."

"Aww, I already had a shower today," Grounder whined.

"I can't find my tail!" Coconuts whined, "Any of you seen it?"

"I'm missing some screws," Grounder added.

"We know that lame-brain!" Scratch said and then sighed heavily. It was going to be a long, smelly walk home - if they could find and reattach their legs.

* * *

A few days later Sonic and his friends gathered to see the new foundation being laid for the Ghunderthorks baseball stadium.

"Sonic, how can I thank you enough?" Bobby said.

"I do accept most chilidogs," Sonic said with a smirk.

Bobby's manager patted him on the back, "My boy, you can have as many as you want! After all, Without you there wouldn't even be a Ghunderthorks team anymore! In fact, we're installing a private box just for you and your friends! All of you can come whenever you want!"

All of Sonic's friends cheered.

"No offense, Bobby," Sonic whispered, "but I think I need a break from baseball for a while."

Bobby laughed. "Me too actually."

"What's that?" His manager asked.

"Sorry to spring this on you Jerry, but I think it's about time I announced my retirement."

"Retirement! But you're still at the top of your game!" All of Bobby's teammates agreed, trying to convince him to change his mind.

"No, no, I've made up my mind. Besides, I've had a good long run, and I ain't as young as I used to be, fellas. Besides, I think I've found my new passion: coaching! I'm going to coach for the Mobian Little League!"

"You sure about that, Bobby?" Sonic asked.

"I thought about what you said and I want to give coaching a try."

"Good skills then."

"Skills?"

"Yeah cause you don't need luck! Remember?" Sonic said, laughing.

"Thanks Sonic." He shook his hand.

"I think it's about time for all of us to be moving on," Hodge Podge said, "I gotta get back to my job."

"Yeah, but it was great having the whole gang together though," Junior said, putting an arm around Breezy, "We should do this again sometime."

"Just not when we're all in dire jeopardy," MacHopper added and everyone laughed.

"I dunno," Big Griz said, "It was a lot of fun!"

"Yeah, you know who ta call if you need more players," Mad Mike said.

"Da Bearz!" Everyone said in unison, making the two bears blush and laugh.

"Did anyone see where Wes Weasly got to?" Breezy asked.

"I saw him headin for the hills," Miss Possum said, "And good riddance. He's as slippery as an eel."

"Forget about him ladies," Sonic said, "I have a feeling he's gonna lay low for awhile."

"He'd better if he knows what's good for him," Mad Mike said.

"Too right," MacHopper agreed.

"Well keeds," Sonic said, "Gotta speed. Me and Tails gotta prepare for when Robotnik starts up his next scheme."

"Wait, let's do the team cheer one more time!" Tails said.

"I dunno, kiddo, everyone's ready to go."

But before he knew it they had all gathered around in a circle around them, putting their hands into the middle. Tails put in his. Everyone looked at Sonic, waiting for him. He smiled and added his hand in as well. The circle was complete.

"Alright, guys. One more time. On three."

"One... Two... Three!"

"GO... CYCLONES!"

They unanimously leapt into the air, fingers splayed, hands reaching into the clear blue sky. Each voice screamed out a cheer. Each face smiled in the bright sunshine. Each heart secretly hoped they would get to see everyone again very soon.

**THE END**

**_(Please stay tuned for a "Sonic Sez" segment!)_**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

_What a long ride. It's hard to believe I've been working on this project off and on for five years. I feel like quoting Dr. Warpnik from "Trails of the Missing Tails" - "Five long years!" Pretty crazy! I can't tell you how good it feels to be done at last._

_Anyway, I learned a couple important lessons while writing this fan fic that I'd like to share with you guys:_

_**1.) There's a reason why sports films have montages.** Trying to write out every play and every inning was a really, really bad idea on my part. I actually had to keep a play-by-play score card! Because of that, if you find any continuity errors, like batting order mix-ups (of which there are plenty I promise you!), I hope you'll forgive me for getting in way over my head. I tried my best to clear it up, but there's still a lot of mistakes. At this point I just want to keep moving forward, instead of beating a deactivated robot with a baseball bat. :)_

_**2.) Once you've gotten away from a story for a long while (say a year... or 5 for that matter), it's difficult to finish it. **I should have buckled down a few years back to finish this. I could have, but I let other things get in the way. I'm sad I did because #3 happened shortly after._

_**3.) I let not finishing one story get in the way of not finishing other stories. **This was especially bad because I had never had a problem finishing them before I tackled this one. I often wonder what would have happened had I worked on "Sonic Gets Grounded" before this one. Who knows? But you can't change the past, you can only move forward. Which brings me to #4. (Last one, I swear!)_

_**4.) You can finish anything you set your mind to.** It may have taken me literally five years, but I'm telling you I'm gonna sleep great tonight knowing that I moved past this and was able to finish at long last._

_Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to finish this piece up. Especially **Zana An** & __**Shmeilia Rockie **as they are known on here on . It really does feel so good to be finally done. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Even in the end when I got frustrated and discouraged, it was still lots of fun to write. I had fun reading back through the old parts and rolling on the floor at jokes I had forgotten I had written. It was like stumbling upon a secret keepsake I buried and forgotten about._

_Let me know if you want to see more AoStH episodes from me if you leave a review. I think I might finish up "Sonic Gets Grounded" since it's at about 50% completion when I last worked on it. I promise they won't be long like this one again! (Never again!) I'm sticking to short format for AoStH - that's when it's at its best after all. :) Then again, like Sonic and the gang, I might take a quick break. I also have to finish my Sonic Underground story as well since it's six chapters in and still going! :)_

_Meanwhile I'm also working on my original writing. I have two serial stories in the works and I'm working on subsequent drafts of three full-length novels! If you want to read any of these, you can check out my blog - the link to it is on my profile. :)_

_As always, thanks for reading!_

_This story is dedicated to everyone who subscribed to story alert for this over the years. Thank you! _

**Because you guys believed, I did too. **

_J.M. Rich, December 2010_


	15. Sonic Sez

**Sonic Sez: "Be a Good Sport!"**

* * *

  
Sonic is watching Tails's first little league game. Tails is up to bat and has one more chance to get a hit.

Tails swings the bat with all his might, watching with wide eyes as the ball passes an inch above his bat.

"STEE-RIKE THREE!" Sergeant Doberman calls out, "You're OUT short-stuff!"

Tails throws down his bat as he storms back to the dugout. He kicks over a bucket of baseballs on his way there, spilling them onto the field. "He didn't pitch it right. He made me lose! It's not fair!"

Sonic leapt down from the spectator seats, following after him. "Hey Keed, what's the matter?"

"I got out again!" The anger in his eyes tells all Sonic needs to know about the situation.

"Don't worry about it, you can try again next inning!"

"But I haven't gotten a hit all day!" Tails kicks his seat and plops down, folding his arms tightly.

"Calm down, kiddo. It's just a game."

"I just wanted to get one hit, Sonic. Everybody's gonna hate me now cause I messed up."

Sonic sits down beside him on the dugout bench. He puts an arm around his young friend. "Not if you're a good sport about it."

"Good sport? What does that mean?" Tails looks up at him curiously.

"A good sport is someone who stays positive, win or lose! They treat all players and officials with respect, no matter what team they're on. They play by the game's rules, listen to their coaches and cheer on their teammates, even when things aren't going well. But most of all a good sport is someone who had fun playing the game!"

"Losing isn't any fun though."

"It's okay to feel sad," Sonic replies, "Just don't let it ruin your fun! After all that's why you wanted to play isn't it?"

Tails thinks about this for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. Sonic, I'm gonna try hard to be a good sport from now on."

"Atta boy, Tails."

A whistle blows sharply. They turn towards the field and the two teams are switching places.

"Looks like it's your turn to play short-stop."

"Right! Gotta go."

"Have fun!" Sonic waves to him.

"I will! I'm gonna have fun no matter what! Win or lose!" He gives Sonic a thumbs up.

Sonic turns back to you. "That goes for you too readers! If you're having a hard time playing, don't let it get you down. Remember, nobody wants to play with someone who's always angry and complaining. If you do bad just keep trying and have fun! Always do your best and you can stand proud. **Sonic Says!**"


End file.
